Ramble On
by Kenyade
Summary: First fic. Stephen, Peter, and Ethan are three different boys with different stories, but the same goal. To be the Pokemon Leauge Champ. This is the chronicle of the adventures they have on their journey.
1. Stephen Starts Out

**Well, here we go. First fanfic. Hope you all enjoy reading it.**

**No action in this chapter, basically introductions. But things start off with a bang next chapter!**

**I don't own Pokemon. Wait, really?**

…..

Chapter 1: Stephen Starts Out

Sunlight streamed in through the second floor window of a house, marking the start of a new day. The light rays fell on the back of the head of a teenaged boy, who lay sprawled in nothing but his boxers; his sheets had been kicked off the bed at one point during the night. The boy had dirty-blonde hair that he kept short enough that it was cool and easy to wash, but long enough that some of its natural curliness showed. He was fair-skinned, but had a slight tan that showed his love for the outdoors. The boy yawned and rolled away from the light, muttering in his sleep.

"No, Dad, that's my bacon!" As he rolled over, the door to his room opened, permitting a smaller creature to enter. It heavily resembled a dog, if a dog had orange fur and a couple black stripes, that is. It also had a small mane of white fur on the back of its head. Upon seeing the sleeping boy, the dog-like creature smiled and trotted over to the bed. One of the boy's hands was leaning over the side of the bed, allowing the orange-furred creature to nuzzle it with his nose. The boy chuckled.

"No, Mom, I'm not ticklish." The dog seemed to huff at this, deciding a different approach would be necessary to wake the sleeping boy. Doing what dogs do best, the white-mane canine began licking the blonde boy's fingers. He received a light smack in the nose as a response.

"I'll wash my hands when I finish, Dad." Ticked at getting whacked for his efforts, the orange dog opened his mouth and went with his last resort. The boy's eyes shot open as the dog's sharp teeth nipped his hand.

"Yowch!" The boy jumped out of his bed, immediately beginning to suck on his offended hand. "Wad you do dat fo', Growlithe?" The boy mumbled from behind his hand. The orange-furred dog, named Growlithe, barked out his response. The boy stared indignantly back at the canine, removing his hand from his mouth as he next spoke.

"So? That doesn't give you the right to bite my hand! Is that the last thing you want to do to me before I leave on my journey?" The orange-furred dog's eyes grew large at this, and he let out a pathetic little puppy whimper. Unable to stay mad at the dog, the boy dropped to one knee and scratched his head.

"I'm just messing with you, Growlithe. I can't stay mad at you." The canine perked up at this, licking the boy's face and eliciting spluttered laughter.

"Hey, cut that out, man. I love you, too. Now let me get dressed and we'll go get some breakfast." Growlithe barked happily at this, getting out of the boy's way so he could get ready. The blonde-haired youth reached into his dresser and pulled out a pair of socks, a pair of tan cargo pants, and a plain white undershirt. Slipping all of these on, the boy then reached into his close and pulled out his favorite article of clothing: a ratty, old, green, hooded zip-up sweatshirt. Smiling, the boy pulled it on and looked in the mirror. After making sure his bed head wasn't major, he smiled and took a long look around his room.

"Well, it's been fun, room. I'll be gone awhile; don't get too messy while I'm gone." Smiling, the boy walked out his door with Growlithe at his heels.

…..

The boy slid down the railing of the stairs, nearly crashing into his father as he did so.

"Easy, Stephen. You don't want to go taking out your old man, do you?" The boy, who's name was Stephen, smiled.

"Not at all, Dad. At least not with so many witnesses." They both laughed at this, and then proceeded into the kitchen. On the table lay a veritable feast, and over the stove was the person responsible.

"Good morning, Mom." The women turned her head around, smiling at her husband and son.

"Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?" The father snorted at this.

"Is that even a question with this child? He's like a freaking log!" Stephen smirked at this, gazing at his dad evenly.

"Your one to talk, Dad." The older man raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Point taken. Now, let's get some grub." Stephen nodded and walked over to the table. Sending a quick thank-you to his mother, the blonde-haired teen began to dig in. Smiling at her son, the mother walked over and sat at the table.

"So, today's the big day, isn't it, John?" John, the father, cleared his throat and nodded.

"That it is, Lisa. Are you ready for it, Stephen?" The boy managed a muffled "Yes" in-between mouthfuls of food. Lisa, Stephen's mother, sniffled slightly at this, her eyes beginning to water.

"It's hard to believe that you're going. It seems like just yesterday I was changing your diaper." The women reached up and dabbed her eyes with her apron while John comfortingly wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Stephen smiled warmly at his mom as he slide a few strips of his beloved bacon off the table for Growlithe to devour.

"Hey, no worries, mom. I'll keep in touch. And it's not like I'm going away forever. I'll be visiting you guys when I get all the badges I need to get into the Pokemon League Championships." His mother brightened slightly at his, sniffing back further tears.

"I know, sweetie. And I'm very proud of you. It's just something we mother's have to do when our child leaves the house on his own." John gave his wife a reassuring squeeze and turned back to his son.

"Well, I guess you should be going, Stephen. You don't wan to keep Samuel waiting." Stephen nodded and finished the last bit of food remaining. He then stood up and stretched, looking down when he felt something nuzzling his leg. There sat Growlithe with Stephen's pack in his mouth, a sad look in his eyes. Stephen got down on his knee and took the pack, rubbing Growlithe's head as he spoke.

"Thanks, Growlithe. I'm going to miss you, buddy. Take care of mom and dad while I'm gone, ok?" Growlithe stood up straight and let out an affirmative bark, earning him a pat on the head. "That's what I wanted to hear." Giving the faithful dog one last pat, Stephen stood up and faced his parent, pulling on his pack as he spoke.

"Well, guys, this is it. I'll keep in touch." Lisa smiled and hugged her son close.

"Be safe, sweetie. Make sure you brush your teeth and get enough sleep." Squeezing his mother tightly, Stephen then turned to his dad.

"So you're off, huh?" John smiled proudly at his son, giving the blonde-haired boy silent courage. Stephen nodded in reply. "Well, son, just remember the family motto. Start strong-" John held out his hand.

"-finish strong." Stephen finished as he grasped his father's hand. Letting go, the youth walked out the front door, turning around to say: "I love you, guys."

"I love you too, sweetie.

"Make us proud, son."

"Ruff!" Smiling one last time, Stephen turned and walked out of the house and down the road.

…..

It took the blonde-haired youth 15 minutes at a brisk pace to arrive at his destination. On his way, Stephen passed through the humble streets of Pallet Town. He smiled at the familiar faces he saw, accepting the well-wishes with nods and waves. When he did arrive at his destination, he was once again overcome with awe.

He stood at the foot of a long staircase that led the research lab of world-renowned Pokemon Researcher, Professor Samuel Oak. A great trainer back in his youth, Prof. Oak had earned his fame in the later years of his life for his exploits in the field of finding out all he could about Pokemon.

Pokemon were, of course, the mysterious creatures that inhabited the planet. Stephen's family's Growlithe was an example of a Pokemon. And now Stephen was here at the Prof.'s lab to receive a Pokemon of his very own. Positively bursting with excitement, Stephen rushed up the stairs to the front door and knocked as politely as he could.

"Hang on, I'm coming." The voice rang out from inside the building, and Stephen stepped a respectful distance away from the door. A few moments later, the door opened to a reveal an old man. However, despite his apparent age, Prof. Oak was very fit for his age, and still had that youthful glint in his eye. A warm smile came to his face when he saw Stephen standing there with his pack.

"Why hello, Stephen. I'm guessing by that pack you're carrying that you're not here to get back that butter I borrowed." The blonde-haired youth smiled at the Prof.

"Nope, Prof. Oak, that's not why I'm here." Oak's smile broadened at this, and he ushered Stephen inside.

"Yes, I know why you're really here. Follow me to my lab and we'll get you squared away." The pair set off into the house, soon after arriving at Oak's lab. It was the epitome of science-fiction, Stephen decided. Futuristic machines, screens, and buttons filled the room, in the middle of which sat a small machine with a glass dome. Inside the dome was a single poke ball, which struck Stephen as odd.

"Prof., aren't there supposed to be three poke balls in there?" Oak smiled as he answered.

"Well normally, yes. But the other two are currently on loan to my good friend Prof. Elm. He wanted all three, but I stated that I needed this one for you. Go ahead and let him out." Stephen reached for the poke ball as the dome opened. As he held it in his hand, the blonde-haired youth realized there was a flame symbol on it. Smiling, Stephen released the Pokemon inside as he called out:

"Come on out, Charmander!" The ball burst open and a flash of red light came out. Suddenly, the red light began to materialize into solid mass, soon taking the Pokemon's true form.

"Charmander!" An orange skinned lizard stood before Stephen and Oak. His belly was yellow, and the tip of his tail held a small flame. He stood upright on his two legs, staring evenly up at the person who had just released him. Oak smiled.

"Introduce yourself, Stephen." Nodding, the blonde-haired youth knelt down in front of Charmander.

"Hey there, Charmander. My name's Stephen. Prof. Oak gave me your poke ball, so now you and I are going to travel together. Are you ok with me being your master?" The orange-skinned lizard looked Stephen up and down for a long time. Then, suddenly, he broke out into a grin and held out his fist. Smiling in response, Stephen finished the fist pound and stood up, turning to face Prof. Oak.

"Looks like you and Charmander are going to get along just fine, Stephen." The blonde-haired teen nodded.

"I think so too, Prof." Charmander flashed a thumbs up.

"Char!" Smiling, Oak walked over to a desk and pulled out several things from a drawer. As he turned around, Stephen recognized the five empty poke balls. However, the other thing the Prof. held was something he had never seen before. Oak smiled as he handed the poke balls to Stephen.

"Here you are, Stephen. You know what those are for, of course. However, I don't believe you've ever seen this before." Stephen placed the poke balls in his pack as he shook his head.

"No, can't say that I have." The object in question was best compared to some kind of PDA. It had a red paint job, a small screen, a D-pad, and some buttons. Oak handed the object to Stephen as he explained.

"That is a Pokedex, Stephen. It's sort of like a virtual encyclopedia of Pokemon. All you have to do is point it at the Pokemon you wish to learn about, and all relevant data will be displayed for you. Try it out." Stephen nodded.

"Alright, then. Ready, Charmander?" The flam-tailed lizard nodded!

"Mander!" Stephen nodded and pointed the Pokedex at Charmander. There was a second or two of whirring, and then a mechanical voice said:

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. This tip of its tail is a measure of its life. If healthy, the tail burns intensely." Stephen closed the Pokedex when it was finished speaking. He smiled at Charmander.

"Well, buddy, we'll have to make sure that flame of yours stays big, huh?" Charmander grinned and flashed a thumbs up.

"Mander Charmander!" Oak smiled at the new friends. I t reminded him of his glory days. Clearing his throat, Oak walked up to Stephen.

"Well, Stephen, this is it. Your journey begins now. Are you ready?" Stephen looked down at Charmander, who nodded. Stephen smiled at the Prof.

"You know it, Prof. Oak." The Prof. laughed showed Stephen and Charmander to the front door.

"Are you going to put Charmander in his poke ball, Stephen?" The blonde haired teen shook his head.

"No. I think he'd rather walk outside in the fresh air. Right, buddy?" Charmander grinned and gave the Prof. at thumbs up, causing the older man to smile.

"Already thinking alike, are we? That's a good sign. You two will do great, I just know it! Keep in touch now, and good luck!" Stephen and Charmander waved to the Prof. until they were out of sight down the road. Charmander looked up at Stephen and spoke.

"Charchar mander char?" Stephen looked down at his new friend, smiling.

"We're heading down this road to Viridian city, Charmander. That's where we'll plan our route from. You psyched?" Charmander grinned and nodded, and then the new friends set off, eager to see what lay ahead for them.

…..

**Well, there's the first chapter. I feel like it was a little short, but I was just introducing two of the main characters. Don't expect any other main human characters to enter into the story until chapter 3. I've already got Chapter 2 in my mind, so all I have to do is right it down. So the hard part, in other words.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading this. If you drop the story and hate its guts, that's fine. Sorry I let you down. But if you liked it, I hope you stay until the end. We'll see how this thing goes along together.**

**And if you took the time to read this story, please take just a few more seconds to review, or critique, or flame, or ask questions. All are welcome.**

**Action coming next time!**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and see you next time.**


	2. Bird Problems

**Well, here I am again. I'd like to thank everyone one who read the story.**

**There's action in this one, so I hope you enjoy it!**

**I don't own Pokemon.**

**Let's go!**

…..

Chapter 2: Bird Problems

Stephen and Charmander had been walking along the road to Viridian city for about an hour when Stephen decided they should take a quick rest. As the blonde teen began to pull out a snack and his canteen from his pack, Charmander lay back against a tree, placing his hands behind his head. The fire Pokemon grinned as he closed his eyes and felt the sun shine gently on him. Stephen smiled at his new friend as he began munching on an energy bar.

"You hungry, buddy?" Charmander opened one eye as he replied.

"Char." Smiling, Stephen tossed his flaming friend an energy bar, and the pair ate quietly for a little bit. When Stephen finished, he placed the wrapper in his pocket, stood up, and stretched.

"We'll have to buy you some Pokemon food in Viridian City, Charmander." The orange lizard nodded and finished the last of his energy bar, handing the wrapper to Stephen when he was done. The teen placed the trash into his pocket with the other wrapper and then shouldered his pack. Shrugging into the pack to get it situated, Stephen looked down at his orange companion.

"You ready to go, man?" Charmander grinned and flashed a thumbs up. Stephen smiled and began walking.

"Then let's go!"

…..

About fifteen minutes later, Stephen noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to see what it was, he let out a gasp.

A lone Pokemon with gray skin was being attacked by a bunch of birds. Stephen easily identified the red-feathered birds as Spearow, but didn't recognize the gray one. It was about the size of a small child, with gray skin and what resembled yellow cornrows on the top of its head. Suddenly remembering his Pokedex, Stephen reached into his pocket and pulled the red electronic device, flipped it open, and pointed it at the Pokemon in question. A few seconds of whirring was followed by the mechanical voice.

"Machop, the Superpower Pokemon. Its whole body is composed of muscles. Even though it's the size of a human child, it can hurl 100 grown-ups." Stephen closed the Pokedex and placed it back in his pocket, watching the battle unfold. Stephen ran the situation through his head.

_Machop's a fighting type, so he's at a disadvantage here. While he could probably take one or two Spearows no problem, this many is probably too much. Charmander and I'll help out._ Stephen looked down at his flaming friend, catching his eye. The look Charmander gave him let the teen know they were thinking the same thing.

"Let's go give him a hand, Charmander." The orange lizard nodded.

"Mander!" The pair rushed over towards the Machop, hoping they would get there in time. Stephen watched as the Superpower Pokemon ducked underneath one Spearow's attack and then let loose with an open hand punch to the bird's midsection. As the Spearow flew off to rejoin the group, clearly regretting its attack, two more dove towards the Machop. The gray skinned Pokemon neatly caught the birds by their beaks and slammed their heads together, receiving a satisfying _thunk_ for his efforts. However, Machop hadn't noticed a third Spearow coming in from behind him until the bird let loose a perfect Peck attack on Machop's unprotected back.

"Chop!" The gray skinned Pokemon fell to one knee, the damage of the Peck attacked magnified by Machop's type weakness. Not ready to give up yet, the muscular Pokemon let loose a severe back hand strike across the Spearow's face, sending it crashing to the ground. However, the damage was done. The flock of Spearow circling above Machop saw their quarry weakened, and went in for the kill. The bird Pokemon let loose on Machop, pecking him into submission. Smiling to himself, the biggest of the Spearow flew into the air, spun around, and began a dive bomb towards Machop. The gray skinned Pokemon closed his eyes, waiting for the pain.

"Charmander, go!" There was a dull thud, and as Machop opened its eyes, it gasped. Standing now between him and the Spearow were a teenaged human boy and a Charmander. The Spearow that had attempted to dive bomb Machop laid a few feet away, a bruise forming where Charmander's tail had evidently whacked it. The flaming Pokemon smirked and wagged its finger at the enraged Spearow.

"Char char char." The bird Pokemon let out a squawk and took back into the air, joining back up with his comrades. Without ever taking his eyes off the circling birds, the blonde teen asked:

"Are you ok, Machop? Can you stand?" The Superpower Pokemon tried mightily, but was too weak from the pummeling it had taken to get to its feet. The boy knelt down and picked up Machop, lifting him up piggy-back style. Machop watched as a Spearow that was braver than the rest shot out of the sky towards them. The boy's face became serious as he spoke to Charmander.

"Alright, buddy, here we go. Duck under it and hit its belly with Scratch." Charmander flashed a thumbs up.

"Char!" The orange lizard rushed towards the oncoming Spearow, his hands stretched out behind him. Just as it appeared the two Pokemon were going to collide, Charmander slid under the speeding Spearow and raked its belly with his sharp claws. The wounded bird let out a pained squawk and flew back up to the circling flock. Two other Spearows decided to give the fire lizard a go, zooming at him in a tight formation.

_This isn't good,_ Stephen thought. _Charmander won't be able to get all of them. We'll have to scare them away, somehow._ Suddenly, and idea popped into the blonde's head.

"Charmander," he called, "use Ember to scare them away!" Charmander smirked and nodded, turning back to the oncoming Spearow. The flame on the lizard's tail began to grow bigger as he took a deep breath.

"Char-" just when it looked like the reptile couldn't take in anymore breath, he opened his mouth and let out a small but powerful wave of flame. "-mander!"

The charging Spearow couldn't veer out of the way in time, and they both took the force of the flame head-on. When the bright flash of light cleared after the impact, the two birds were sprawled on the ground, down for the count. The flaming reptile smirked.

"Charmander." Looking back up at the now un-nerved birds, Charmander made a come-and-get-some gesture. In response, four of the Spearows landed next to their wounded comrades and picked them up. Then, the flock of bullies flew away, squawking back at the two strangers who had ruined their fun. As soon as the Spearow were out of sight, Charmander dropped to the ground, finally letting its exhaustion show. Stephen smiled as he walked over to his body.

"Great job, Charmander. You showed those guys what happens to bullies." Charmander grinned up at his master, taking deep breaths to slow his heart rate. The blonde haired teen reached into his pack and pulled out Charmander's poke ball. "You look like you could use a rest, buddy."

"Char char!" Charmander struggled to his feet, shaking his head. "Mander char Charmander!" Stephen smiled and put away the poke ball.

"Fine, have it your way." As Stephen stood up, he looked over his shoulder at the Machop he was carrying. He smiled comfortingly. "What do you say we get our new friend here to a Pokemon Center? Viridian City is only fifteen minutes down the road." Charmander grinned and gave Stephen a thumbs up, and then the trio set off, albeit at a slower pace than before.

…..

The group had only been walking for five minutes when Stephen heard it. It was the sound of wings, flying really fast, towards them. "Uh oh." Stephen turned around and was greeted by the sight of two large birds soaring towards them. Charmander turned around as well, letting out a low growl as he did so.

"Char!" Stephen reached into his pack and pulled out his Pokedex. He pointed at the two large brown birds.

"Fearow, the Beak Pokemon. With its huge and magnificent wings, it can keep aloft without ever having to land for rest." Stephen gulped as he closed the Pokedex.

"If I'm not mistaken, Charmander, Fearow is the evolved form of Spearow. What are you willing to bet that those are the two leaders of that pack of bullies we sent packing?" Charmander growled.

"Charchar!" Stephen looked at his partner.

"I'm with you, buddy. Let's move!" The pair took off at a run, desperately trying to escape the oncoming birds. However, it was a vain effort. Charmander was tired from his battle, and carrying Machop was no help for Stephen. The pair was soon doubled over, trying to catch their breath. And that's when the pair of Fearow struck.

"Mander!" The orange lizard dove out of the way in the nick of time, barely dodging the diving Fearow. Charmander came to his feet sloppily, breathing hard from the physical exertion. However, the tired lizard received no respite, as the second Fearow followed right behind the first one. This time when Charmander dodged to the side it couldn't help being grazed by the Fearow's beak. Charmander grunted in pain as he slid back a couple feet, clutching his side. Stephen looked at his orange friend, concern for him clouding his better judgment.

"Hang on, buddy! I'm coming!" Stephen rushed over to Charmander while at the same time sliding Machop off of his back. When the blonde teen arrived at his orange friend he covered him and Machop with his body, acting as a human shield. The blonde teen didn't know what he was going to do. All he knew was that he wasn't going to let any harm come to Charmander and Machop. The Fearows, however, didn't seem to care who they hit, just as long as they hit something. And hit something they did. They ripped at Stephen's sweatshirt with their talons, beat him with their large wings, and pecked him mercilessly. Stephen cried out in pain, but maintained his defensive position above the two Pokemon.

Quickly growing bored with the pathetic quarry, the two Fearows took to the air with the intention on ending the fight with one decisive strike. As the two birds completed their ascent, they promptly turned around and shot down at Stephen, spinning furiously. The blonde teen, as beaten as he was, easily recognized the twin Drill Peck attack. He looked down at the two Pokemon he was protecting, forcing a pained smile.

"It's been nice knowing you two." As Stephen closed his eyes and waited for the pain, he felt a rush of movement on his left and right side.

"Charmander!"

"Machop!" Stephen felt an intense heat wash over his back, heard a sickening _thwack, _and smelt what seemed to be cooked feathers. Slowly, the blonde youth opened his eyes and turned around. The scene that lay before him made the breath catch in his throat.

Charmander lay sprawled on his hands and knees breathing heavily, and the flame on his tail was dangerously low. Machop was down on one knee, holding one hand gingerly and taking gasping breaths. But what really made Stephen's breathing halt was the state of the Fearows. One of the giant birds had a beak that was bent at an awkward angle, and the other one looked as if it had been charbroiled. It didn't take long for Stephen to realize what had happened.

_Charmander must have taken that charred Fearow down with the biggest Ember of his life. And I'm guessing Machop intercepted the other Fearow with his injured hand. Wow, that's some power those two have._ Stephen managed to get to his feet, and then wobbly made his way over to the two Pokemon. The two Fearow were down for the count, no question about it. They'd make it, though. And maybe they'd be a bit nicer after this. The blonde teen then made his way to Machop and Charmander, who both smiled weakly at him.

"Char mander mander?" Stephen smiled and rubbed the orange lizards head.

"Yeah, buddy, I'm ok. Thanks." Stephen then looked over at Machop, who was just now weakly getting to his feet.

"And thanks to you too, Machop. How's your hand?" The gray skinned Pokemon put on a pained smile and tried to move the hand and question. He was rewarded with a jolt of pain.

"Chop!" Stephen's expression turned grim at the sight of the pained Pokemon.

"We need to get you two to a hospital. Now." Charmander's face took on a worried expression as he spoke to his trainer.

"Charchar mander charmander char?" Stephen waved the protest aside, but immediately regretted the action, as it aggravated a bruise the Fearows had given him.

"I can carry both of you guys, don't worry." Charmander still looked skeptical, but trusted his friend's judgment. The orange lizard managed to make his way over to his master, and then collapsed into his arms. Picking up his flaming friend, Stephen then let Machop get on his back piggyback style once again. When everybody was situated, the teen struck off for Viridian City once more, hoping his weakened body was up to the journey.

…..

He barely made it. As Stephen crested the hill and gazed at the beautiful green that was Viridian City, he felt his strength fading.

_Start strong-_, he heard his dad's words in his mind.

"Finish strong." Stephen completed the family motto, pushing his spent body to put one foot in front of the other. It took only a minute to reach the Pokemon Center, but it felt like an hour. But somehow, against all odds, the blonde teen managed to make it.

There was a faint chime sound as Stephen staggered into the Pokemon Center. A woman with dark pink hair who was wearing a nurse's uniform stood behind the counter. As she turned to greet the new comer, the friendly greeting died in her throat.

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" The woman rushed over to the exhausted teen, taking the Charmander from his arms. The boy somehow managed to stay on his feet as he removed the Machop from his back.

"We were…attacked…Fearows…" The boy fell to one knee, still trying to carry the gray skinned Pokemon. "Take care…of Charmander…and…Machop." The nurse called out, and a few moments later a roughly egg-shaped Pokemon with a nurse's hat walked over.

"Chansey! Chansey chansey!" Stephen handed Machop to Chansey, and promptly passed out. The nurse, who's name was Joy, gasped.

"Oh my! These three have been through a lot!" She turned to her assistant Pokemon. "Come on, Chansey. We have work to do." The egg-shaped Chansey nodded, and together she and Nurse Joy carried Charmander and Machop into the back. While Nurse Joy took care of them, Chansey moved Stephen to a medical bed, bandaged his wounds, and took his clothes to be washed.

All that remained was to wait for him to wake up.

…..

**Well, there's chapter 2. How's the story doing so far?**

**If you have any suggestion, praise, flames, or questions, shoot me a review. Any and all are welcome.**

**I may or may not introduce a new character next chapter. What do my readers want?**

**Anyways, enjoy and see you next time!**


	3. Quite a Pair

**Hm, not many people reading this. Is it that bad? Oh well. For those of you who are reading this, I thank you.**

**Very little action, if any, in this chapter. But prepare to meet Ethan, Peter, and their Pokemon.**

**I don't own Pokemon.**

**Here goes.**

Chapter 3: Quite a Pair

The sun rose over Viridian City, dispelling the shrouds of darkness from the previous night. The sun filtered through the multi-colored window of the second floor room of a mansion that sat on the outskirts of the town. As the light fell on the face of a sleeping boy his eyes fluttered open and he yawned. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, the boy reached over to his night stand and grabbed his glasses. They were pretty thick, but not over-the-top. As he placed the glasses on his face he sat on the edge of his bed, letting out a mighty yawn. He then stood up, stretched, and made his bed. He smiled as he flattened the covers.

_To think, this is the last time I'll do this for awhile._ Finishing up, the boy reached under the bed and pulled out a set of clothes. Quickly changing out of his pajamas, the boy pulled on his red shirt and tan shorts, and then stepped in front of his wall mirror.

He had brown hair that was outrageously curly, attesting to the fact that the teen had never seen a comb in his life. He was quite pale, but not sickly so. He was of medium height and considerably skinny, but nobody could accuse him of being anorexic. Smiling at his reflection, the brown haired teen proceeded to kick the still form that was lying on the ground in front of him.

"Come on, Ethan, wake up! You don't want to miss the big day, do you?" The form the teen was kicking happened to be another teenaged boy, who was currently sleeping on the floor. On the boys stomach was a curled up Pokemon. Its body was a yellowish-green color, and it had one large, vibrant green leaf on its head. It muttered softly as it slept, uttering a word with each exhale.

"Chika…chika…chika…" The curly haired teen smiled at the sleeping Pokemon, but quickly frowned as Ethan spoke.

"Five more minutes." Snorting, the teen whacked his friend in the head, forcing the boy to wake up.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" As Ethan snapped upright from his rude awakening, the sleeping Pokemon was knocked off, giving it an equally rude awakening. Before Peter could respond to his friend, the Pokemon got to its feet, positively fuming.

"Chikorita rita chika!" Ethan stared at his Chikorita and pointed at the boy who had smacked him.

"Don't blame me! Peter's the one who smacked me!" The Chikorita's anger shifted easily from Ethan to Peter, making the brown haired teen take a step back.

"Easy there, Chikorita. Don't do anything rash. I was just trying to wake you two up for the big day. Ethan would have slept right through it if I hadn't done something." Chikorita huffed, but was forced to accept Peter's words as fact.

Smiling at his Pokemon, Ethan proceeded to stand up and stretch. There was no need for him to change, as he was already fully dressed in a dark blue shirt and jeans. His brown hair was almost none existent on the sides of his head, and he had only about a quarter-of an inch on top. His skin was a deep olive color, made sharper by the paleness of Peter. He was basically the same height as Peter, but had a little more weight on his bones. As he brushed off his pants he turned to Peter.

"Do you think breakfast is ready? I'm starving!" As if on cue, a beep came form the intercom on the wall.

"Master Peter, Master Ethan, your breakfasts are ready." Smiling, Peter pressed the talk button.

"Thank you, Paul. We'll be right down."

"Very good, sir." Peter turned to Ethan, who was currently patting Chikorita's head.

"You ready to go?" Ethan stood up and gave his friend a look.

"Since I first woke up. Let's roll."

…..

Peter and Ethan walked into the kitchen a moment later to the sweet aroma of their breakfasts. Peter's personal chefs had outdone themselves yet again. On the table lay two helpings of mushroom and ham omelets, two short stacks of pancakes, buttered toast, and two glasses of milk. Ethan's eyes lit up.

"This is why I love staying at your house, Peter. You live the freaking charmed life." Peter shrugged.

"Having a father who's the CEO of one of the largest Oil Companies in Kanto doesn't hurt as far as my pocket's concerned." Ethan smirked.

"My stomach agrees." The brown haired teen looked down as his Chikorita walked up next to him, sniffing the air appreciatively. There was a sound of metal grinding on metal, causing the trio to look over at the butler. The man turned away from his task, holding in his hand an open can and a stylized silver bowl.

"For the Mistress Chikorita, might I suggest this can of imported Pokemon food?" The grass-type Pokemon jumped up and down happily, rushing over to the butler as the elderly man placed her breakfast on the ground. Ethan sighed.

"Not very loyal, is she?" Chikorita shot Ethan a playful look before turning back to her food. Shrugging, Ethan and Peter took their places at the table and began to eat. It tasted a thousand times better than it smelled, which was saying something. Ethan practically moaned.

"This is so frigging good. Thanks, Paul." The butler smiled at the brown haired youth.

"Thank you, Master Ethan. Have you two decided when you shall be departing?" Peter answered.

"We were going to leave after we had all had breakfast. We planned to stop by the Pokemon Center so I could say goodbye to Nurse Joy, seeing as I volunteered there a lot." Ethan nodded in agreement before shoving another helping of pancake into his mouth. A sudden thought struck him as he chewed.

"Hey, Pedah, whered your Pogamon?" Peter's eyes widened when he deciphered what his friend had said.

"Hey, yeah! Paul, have you seen him?" Before the butler could answer, the door to the pool opened up, and in walked the answer. It closely resembled a small crocodile, only it had several red scales along its back, a yellow v-shape on its chest, and, most importantly, it stood on two legs. It smiled at Peter as it walked in.

"Dile!" Its voice sounded as if it was gargling, but Peter didn't mind.

"Good morning, Totodile, did you sleep well?" The blue Pokemon nodded its head fiercely, nearly throwing itself off-balance. Peter smiled as he watched his new friend, the events of yesterday running through his mind.

…..

_Ethan ecstatically opened the package, his face matching that of a kid's at Christmas. The plain brown paper gradually fell away, revealing its contents: a poke ball. Ethan's smile, which had been large before, threatened to break his face at this point._

"_You…you guys actually caught me one? Is it…?" Ethan looked up at the view screen he was talking to. Rather, he was using the view screen to talk to someone else, namely his parents. The man and women on the other end of the line beamed at their joyous son. They both were wearing the garb one would picture Pokemon archeologists in. The mother answered her sons' half finished question._

"_Yes, Ethan, it is. Your father and I lost about a day of dig time looking around the forest for that, but it was worth it to see the look on your face." When the brown haired teen failed to come up with a response, his father steeped in._

"_Why don't you let her out and say hello, son?"_ _Shaking himself out of his brain lapse, Ethan nodded and grabbed the poke ball. He called out as he threw it._

"_Come on out, Chikorita!" The ball burst open, releasing the grass Pokemon. Ethan smiled at the fully-materialized Pokemon, realizing for the first time that he now had a Pokemon of his own. He walked over to his new Chikorita, getting down on one knee and looking into her eyes._

"_Hey there, Chikorita, I'm Ethan. I'm your master. Am I acceptable?" The grass Pokemon smiled and jumped on Ethan, nuzzling his face. The brown skinned boy laughed._

"_It looks like she likes you, Ethan." Ethan and Chikorita looked back at the view screen to see his parents smiling at the pair. As Ethan stood up, he took Chikorita into his arms and sat back in front of the screen. The look on his face was priceless._

"_Thank you guys so much!" His parents simply smiled._

"_Are you going to tell her what you guys are going to do?" Ethan's eyes widened._

"_Oh yeah!" He turned to his new Chikorita. "Chikorita, it's my dream to win the Pokemon League Championship here in Kanto. I know that with you by my side, we'll be able to assemble a team and attain that goal. Are you with me?" Chikorita smiled and nodded._

"_Chika!" Ethan's parents laughed._

"_I'm sure you two will do great. Now you and Peter take care on your journey, alright?" Ethan smiled and nodded._

"_We will, don't worry. I'll talk to you guys later. I love you!" Ethan's parents smiled as they began to disconnect._

"_We love you, too." They chorused as the screen shut off. Ethan smiled at Chikorita, patted her head, and then placed her on the ground. A sudden voice made him whirl around._

"_You think that thing and petty dreams are going to make you Pokemon League Champ? Ha!" The voice came from a tall, gangly, skinny teen with straight and somewhat greasy brown hair that almost reached his shoulders. His voice was at once nasally and sounded as if he had too much saliva in his mouth. His face was arranged so that he seemed to be permanently smirking, an irritating feature that made many people dislike him without ever knowing him. Not that getting to know them would have improved their opinion of him. HE seemed to have a permanent chip on his shoulder, telling himself that the only way to get others to like them is to be better than him. The only things wrong with his theory are that, one; he really wasn't good enough to be better than others, and two; it was this attitude, plus his total inadequateness when it came to talking to others, that drove people away. This teen was Peter's brother, Steven, who was older than the pair of teens by a year. As such, he had already been no his Pokemon journey for a year, even reaching the Pokemon League Championships. He made it all the way to the top sixteen before being utterly humiliated. It was something Peter and Ethan pointed out when Steven was being a jack off. Which was most of the time._

"_If I remember correctly, you didn't fair that well." Steven glared at the younger teen, practically daring him to continue. Of course, threats from Steven had never fazed Ethan before, or anybody else for that matter. "What was that battle like again? Didn't the guy only use two Pokemon to take down all six of yours?" Steven's face turned blood red, but Ethan couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment._

"_That wasn't my fault! My stupid Pokemon completely threw off my plan of attack! How in the world could a water type lose to a Graveller?" As Ethan was about to respond, Peter walked in with an answer._

"_Maybe because its trainer sucks?" Ethan and Peter laughed as Steven's face turned a shade redder._

"_No! It's because that Pokemon was weak and always will be! I can't believe I trade my Gloom for this thing." As he spoke, Steven pulled a poke ball out of his pocket, enlarged it, and released its occupant. When the Pokemon materialized, it was Totodile. Peter smiled at the little crocodile, as it had always been his favorite Pokemon. However, Steven did not share his brother's feelings. Totodile looked everywhere but his trainer as the older boy ranted._

"_You single-handedly threw off my entire battle plan, you know that?" Totodile's head hung low and it looked at its feet. Steven then pulled out another poke ball and held it in front off the blue crocodile's face._

"_This is the Pokemon you should try and be more like." Without further delay, the greasy haired trainer released the Pokemon inside. The creature that appeared was a blue turtle that came up to Peter's midsection. It had two wing-like appendages where ears might be, and it wore a smirk quite similar to its master. This was Steven's Wartortle, which had evolved from the Squirtle that the teen had started out with. Peter remembered that Squirtle well, as it had thoroughly enjoyed tormenting the curly haired teen. He could tell from looking at it now that it hadn't changed one bit. Steven smiled as he looked at his shelled Pokemon._

"_Wartortle is the best Pokemon I have. He's strong, dependable, and smart; basically everything you're not." Wartortle chuckled as Totodile's head nearly touched the ground, tears threatening to seep out from behind shut eyes. Peter couldn't take it anymore._

"_Cut it out, Steven. It's not Totodile's fault you're a lousy trainer." Steven glared at his brother, briefly giving Totodile some respite._

"_A lousy trainer, am I? Beating all eight gym leaders and finishing in the top sixteen in the Championships makes me a lousy trainer?" Peter crossed his arms._

"_It does when you get thrashed by two Pokemon." Steven practically snarled._

"_It's not my fault. Because Totodile couldn't take down a Graveller, my plan was shot to heck. I used five of my Pokemon before I used Wartortle, because I was saving him as my ace in the hole. He took out that Graveller no problem, which is more than I can say for Totodile. But because I had no other Pokemon to switch with Wartortle, he was forced to fight an Ivysaur, knowing full well he had no backup. What was I supposed to do, genius?" The greasy haired trainer whirled back to Totodile._

"_And it's your entire fault!" At this, Ethan had had enough._

"_Alright, cut it out. You obviously don't like Totodile, so why not release it and let it get away from you?" Steven snorted at this._

"_Um, maybe because it would only prove that I traded my Gloom for nothing?" A sudden idea popped into Peter's head._

"_Then why don't you give me Totodile? What could be better for you than sabotaging your brother's future by starting him out with such a bad Pokemon?" Peter had expected his brother to respond with a flat-out no. Instead, he got something else._

"_For once you make sense, Peter." Without so much as a good-bye, Steven tossed Totodile's poke ball to Peter and walked out the door, Wartortle right on his heel. Just as Steven reached the door, he called out over his shoulder._

"_I'll see you at the Pokemon League Championships. If you guys even make it that far." Without another word, Steven and his Wartortle were out the door and gone. After a moment of stunned silence, Peter walked over to Totodile, who was currently sobbing quietly. Peter wrapped his arm around the Pokemon._

"_Hey there, Totodile, calm down. I'm your trainer now, and I promise I'll treat you much better than Steven. I'm sure that, with both of us working hard, we'll be able to beat the pants off of Steven and his team. Right?" Totodile looked up into the smiling face of its new trainer. The Pokemon had never received such praising words, or ever seen a truly friendly smile like that. It immediately won the Pokemon over._

"_Dile!" The Pokemon raised his hand into the air, and Peter completed the high five. Ethan and Chikorita smiled._

"_Alright!"_

"_Chika!"_

…..

Peter was brought out of his reverie by Totodile sitting down in the seat next to him, where it promptly began to swing its feet back and forth. It was clearly anxious to get going, and the looks Ethan and Chikorita were sharing showed they wanted to as well. Peter took a deep breath and stood up.

"Well, I guess we should get going." At these words, Totodile let out an excited yell and fell out of his chair. Laughing quietly, Chikorita walked over and helped the energetic crocodile to his feet, causing Totodile to blush slightly.

"Dile dile." Chikorita smiled and winked at the bashful Pokemon, causing him to blush even harder. Ethan laughed at his grass-type's antics.

"Come on, Chikorita. Don't do that to Totodile." The green Pokemon looked to her master, an innocent expression plastered on her face.

"Chika rita chikorita?" Ethan gazed somewhat sternly at her.

"Oh yes you are. Now leave the poor guy alone and let's hit the road." Chikorita smiled and ran back over to her master, leaving the still blushing Totodile to compose himself. Peter smiled and walked over to his butler.

"Well, Paul, this is it. What are you going to do with yourself now that both Steven and I are on the road?" The elderly man smiled.

"I guess I'll finally get a vacation." Peter and Paul laughed at this before the butler took the teen into a hug. "Do take care of yourself, Master Peter. I didn't spend all these years just to watch you stumble here." Peter smiled at his butler as they broke the hug.

"Don't worry, Paul. Now that I've got Totodile and Ethan's got Chikorita, I don't think anything will be able to stop us. I'll be sure to keep in touch." Paul smiled and nodded.

"Be sure that you do. And take care, the both of you."

…..

Five minutes later Peter and Ethan were out the front door and on the road, both of their Pokemon walking next to them. The sun shone brightly down on the group as they proceeded, seeming to say that they could expect great things to come. Ethan looked over to Peter as they walked.

"So, we're going to the Pokemon Center first, right?" Peter nodded.

"Yeah, we are. I've got to say good-bye to Nurse Joy and Chansey. I did volunteer there for quite some time." Ethan smiled at his friend as he replied.

"Yeah, I know. You used to not be able to hang out because you were over there. I guess it's only right you say goodbye to them." Chikorita, who wanted to stay out of her poke ball to enjoy the sun, looked up at her trainer.

"Chika ritarita?" Ethan smiled down at this Pokemon.

"That's right, Chikorita. After that, we're going to go to the Gym here and win our first badge." The grass type got a determined look on her face and nodded her agreement. Peter looked down at his Totodile.

"Same goes for us, right buddy?" Totodile, who had decided that walking around would help it become stronger, nodded furiously. Peter laughed. "That's the spirit." The teen's laughter spread to the rest of the group when the still nodding Totodile tripped over its own feet and tumbled to the ground. Smiling, Chikorita helped him up once again, but didn't do anything to further embarrass the clumsy croc.

….

Fifteen minutes later the door to the Viridian City Pokemon Center chimed as it opened, letting in the cheerful group. Once the doors closed behind them, Peter called out.

"Nurse Joy, are you here?" As if on cue, the door behind the counter swung open, and out stepped Nurse Joy. However, Peter could tell something was wrong. The usually smiling Nurse wore an expression of great concern on her face.

"Oh, Peter, I'm glad you're here. About five minutes before you got here a boy about your age stumbled in with two severely injured Pokemon. The boy himself, however, was in much worse shape." Peter and Ethan glanced at each other before turning back to Nurse Joy.

"What happened? Is he ok?" Ethan had asked the question, causing the Nurse to seemingly notice him for the first time.

"Yes, he's doing alright now, to answer your first question. As to your first, from what I could gather, it appeared he and the Pokemon had come under attack by a flock of Spearow and Fearow." The two teens cringed.

"That doesn't sound too good." Nurse Joy shook her head, turning back to Peter.

"It isn't. But he and his Pokemon are ok now. They're in the medical bay, which is why I'm glad you're here, Peter. Could you do me a favor and go check on them? Chansey and I are swamped right now." The teen in question looked over at his friend, who shrugged.

"It won't hurt to put of the battle for a little longer." Peter smiled and nodded, then turned back to Nurse Joy.

"No problem, Nurse Joy." The pink haired woman smiled.

"Thank you, Peter. You're such a help." Smiling, Peter and Ethan, along with their Pokemon, made their way to Medical Bay to check on this Mystery Boy.

…..

**Well, there it is. Who could the Mystery Boy possibly be? As if you don't know.**

**Well, if you have any questions/suggestions/flames/reviews/praise/anything else, the review button is right down there.**

**Hopefully will have the next installment early next week, but definitely by next Friday!**

**Thanks again for reading this, and see you next time!**


	4. New Faces, New Friends, and a New Rival

**Well things are starting to look up for this story. I now have **_**two **_**reviewers, which is great. It also appears that more people have read my story, which is also pretty sweet.**

**Also, my story has been added to a community, which is awesome.**

**Note: Some language in this chapter, hence the T rating.**

**Anyways, I don't own Pokemon, and here we go!**

Chapter 4: New Faces, New Friends, and a New Rival

Stephen slowly drifted back into consciousness. His head was throbbing, making it hard to remember what had happened. He was too tired to open his eyes, so he just lay in his nice soft bed. Only it wasn't his bed at all. Suddenly, all the events of the day rushed back to Stephen. They ran through his mind at such a dizzying pace that it caused Stephen's already throbbing head to ache horribly. The teen rubbed his head as he groggily opened his eyes. A smiling face greeted him. An orange smiling face.

"Char!" Charmander's face lit up when he saw his master's eyes open. The joy in his fire type's smile was infectious, and soon Stephen found himself smiling as he reached forward and rubbed his friend's head.

You look like you're doing much better, buddy. What about Machop?" A sudden voice came from Stephen's right.

"Chop!" Stephen looked over to see Machop sitting in a meditative position on the bed next to him. The Pokemon's injured right arm was covered in tape that reached slightly past his elbow, but other than that it seemed fine, for which Stephen was glad.

"You look like you're doing well, Machop." The fighting type nodded, smiling at the teen.

"Chopchop Machop." Stephen waved Machop's words of thanks away.

"It was nothing, Machop. I'm always willing to lend a hand to those in need. Right, Charmander?" The fire lizard looked over at Machop, grinning and flashing him a thumbs up, causing Machop to smile. The sound of a door opening caused the trio to look up. Two boys about the same age as Stephen stood in the doorway with two Pokemon at their heels. Stephen easily identified them as a Chikorita and a Totodile. Professor Oak had shown them to Stephen, along with a Cyndaquil, the day Stephen had brought the old man some butter. Stephen noticed that Charmander wasn't looking anywhere but at the Chikorita, and he could have sworn he saw little hearts in his friend's eyes. The boy with brown curly hair and glasses smiled as he spoke.

"Hi, I'm Peter and this is my friend, Ethan." He motioned to the olive-skinned boy next to him, who nodded politely. "I volunteer here a lot, so Nurse Joy asked me to come back here and see how you and your Pokemon were doing." Stephen sat up straighter in his bed and smiled.

"Hi, my name's Stephen. I'm doing fine, and so is Charmander." The fire-type flashed a thumbs up in agreement. Ethan motioned towards Machop.

"And how about your Machop?" Stephen's eyes widened slightly at this.

"Oh, he's not mine. I just carried him here because he was injured." Peter and Ethan's eyes both widened at this.

"So you willingly let yourself get pummeled by Spearows and Fearows just to get a wild Pokemon, who you'd never met before, some medical attention?" Stephen simply nodded in response. "I can't believe that. Do you expect him to join you out of obligation?" Stephen shook his head.

"Not at all. Machop's free to do whatever he wants. I wouldn't take a Pokemon that doesn't want to go with me. What would be the point of training a Pokemon that really didn't want to be there?" Ethan seemed to digest this, but a part of him still wasn't convinced. Peter broke the awkward silence that had settled.

"So, Machop, what are you going to do?" The Superpower Pokemon was caught off guard by the question, looking down at his crossed legs as he thought. Stephen smiled at the fighting type, speaking after a few seconds of silence.

"Don't feel like you need to come with me out of honor or obligation, Machop. I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. You live your life how you want to live it." Machop looked up at the blonde haired teen, and as they looked at each other, something clicked in Machop's mind.

"Chop Machop chop?" Stephen smiled and pointed at Charmander.

"Of course not. I don't keep Charmander in his poke ball. You can go in and out when you wish. Does that mean you want to come with us?" Machop smiled and nodded getting off his bed and standing next to Stephen's. The blonde teen smiled and reached into his pack, which was on the table next to his bed. Pulling out a poke ball, he enlarged it and pointed it at Machop. "Welcome to the team, Machop." Stephen tossed the poke ball at the fighting type, striking him lightly in the chest. When the ball made contact, it popped open and Machop was sucked inside. The ball fell to the floor and began wobbling back and forth, a red light shining on the center button. Suddenly, the ball stopped wobbling and the red light dimmed, signifying that Machop was now Stephen's. Stephen smiled as he reached down and picked up the poke ball.

"Come on out, Machop." Stephen tossed the poke ball into the air again, causing Machop to rematerialize. Charmander grinned and gave Machop a thumbs up, to which the fighting type replied in kind. A sound from the doorway reminded the newly formed trio that they weren't alone.

"Is that how you plan to capture all your Pokemon?" Stephen shrugged Ethan's question off.

"Depends on what you mean. If you mean saving them while getting pummeled in the process, then my answer is no. If you mean letting them decide if they want to come with me, then my answer is yes." Peter cleared his throat before Ethan could respond.

"Well, if you guys are doing alright, I guess Ethan and I should be going." Ethan nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we really should. The sooner we get to the Gym, the sooner we both get our first gym badge." Stephen's attention shot away from his Pokemon at these words.

"Wait, there's a Gym in this town?" Ethan looked at the blonde trainer with a confused expression on his face as he replied.

"Yeah. Why?" Without answering, Stephen turned to his two Pokemon, a determined expression on his face.

"This is great, guys! We can get our first badge right here! You guys feeling up for a battle?" Charmander jumped up and nodded furiously while Machop simply smiled in approval. Ethan's voice cut through the moment like a hot knife through butter.

"You're going to fight a gym battle the same day you were treated in a Pokemon Center for serious wounds? That's ridiculous!" The Chikorita at Ethan's side nodded in support of her master. Stephen merely shrugged.

"Hey, if Charmander and Machop think they can do it, why shouldn't I support them?" After thinking on this for a moment, Ethan replied.

"Well, I guess it really is up to you guys. But why don't you come along with us? Three people and their Pokemon is a lot safer than one guy. That is if you don't mind, Peter." Peter smiled.

"Not at all. You'd be welcome to travel with us. The more the merrier, right?" Stephen grinned and looked back to his Pokemon.

"Well, guys, what do you say?" The blonde teen received an immediate response from his flaming lizard.

"Char!" Stephen couldn't help but smile at his friend. There was no doubt in his mind that getting to spend time with Ethan's Chikorita was a major factor in the Pokemon's response. Stephen turned to his newest Pokemon.

"And what do you say, Machop?" The fighting type shrugged.

"Chop chop." Stephen nodded in agreement.

"Alright, it's settled, then." The blonde teen looked back over to Ethan and Peter. "We'd be happy to join you guys. There's just one thing I've got to do before we go."

"What's that?" Peter asked. Stephen threw off the sheets and stood up, gesturing to the medical smock he was wearing.

"I've got to get my clothes back."

…..

Twenty minutes later the trio and their Pokemon were walking out the front door of the Pokemon Center. It had taken that long for Stephen's clothes to finish drying. While the blonde teen was anxious to battle for his first gym badge, he wasn't too keen on walking around in wet clothes all day.

Also during this time, Peter said his goodbyes to Nurse Joy and Chansey. Though they were both sad to hear he was leaving, they wished him luck on the road ahead. Peter had then thanked them for everything they had done for him, and then the trio went on their way. It would take about five minutes to reach the Gym, so the boys decided to share their stories.

"I was born and raised in Pallet Town, which is just south of here." Ethan nodded his understanding.

"That's where Professor Oak is, right?" Stephen smiled as he replied.

"Yeah, that's right. The Prof. was a good friend of my family, so he came over for dinner at least once a week. I learned all I know about Pokemon from him." Peter got a wistful expression on his face at this.

"It must have been cool, living near such a famous and respected person." Stephen simply nodded.

"What about you guys? What are your stories?" Ethan was the first to reply.

"I live here in Viridian City, but I spend a lot of time at Peter's house. My parents are archeologists, so they're away from home a lot." Peter spoke up when Ethan finished.

"I live here in Viridian as well. My father's a rich oil tycoon and my mother travels with him, mainly because he often visits places with nice resorts." Stephen nodded his understanding, and the boys continued their small talk.

While this was going on, the Pokemon were having conversations themselves. Totodile had timidly struck up a conversation with Machop, who was more than happy to socialize with the shy croc. Charmander, who upon leaving the Pokemon Center had picked some flowers, walked up to Chikorita and cleared his throat. The grass type turned around, a happy smile on her face.

"Chika chika rita?" Charmander, who was now blushing slightly, pulled the bouquet of flowers out from behind his back and held them out towards Chikorita. Had the flame-tailed Pokemon been able to keep his eyes on her, he would have seen the brief blush of pleasure that spread across Chikorita's face. Sadly, he failed to see this, and only witnessed her reaction after she quickly brought herself back under control.

"Chikorita rita!" Charmander took a step back from Chikorita, his hopes crumbling in front of him.

"Ch-char?" Chikorita took a threatening step towards him. She gestured from the flowers Charmander held to the ground.

"Chikachikachika!" Charmander was quick to do as he was bid, replanting the flowers immediately. Chikorita monitored him as he worked, telling him to stop when she felt he had done a good enough job. After stuttering through a hasty apology, the saddened fire type rushed back to Machop, who, having seen what had happened, tried to console his new teammate, Totodile having run up to walk beside Peter. Chikorita stood where she was until she was sure nobody was looking, and then took a deep sniff of the flowers, which smelled absolutely divine. When she was finished she rushed back to the group, trying hard not to smile happily.

…..

"Closed! Aw, man!" Stephen was sitting cross legged on the ground, refusing to believe this horrible stroke of bad luck. Charmander was in a position much like his trainer, only he had the added weight of his apparent rejection by Chikorita on his mind as well. Machop stood next to the pair, silently kicking his foot against the ground. Ethan stood at the door to the gym, reading the sign over and over again.

"Attention: The Viridian City Gym will be closed for an unspecified period of time. Rest assured it will be open so as to allow enough time for those desiring to participate in the Pokemon League Tournament. We are sorry for any inconvenience." Peter shook his head.

"Well, this certainly puts a damper on things, doesn't it?" Totodile sat forlornly at the foot of his trainer, idly drawing patterns on the ground with his finger. Chikorita lay next to the blue croc, looking sadly at her trainer. "What do you guys think we should do now?"

"Pewter City!" Stephen replied out of the blue, snapping his fingers as he spoke. A smile slowly spread across the blonde teen's face as his mind worked. Ethan shot Peter a confused look, and then asked Stephen:

"What about Pewter City?" Stephen stood up and brushed himself off, speaking as he did so.

"There's a gym in Pewter City, I remember now. Seeing as how this one's closed, we should probably go to that one." Ethan's face brightened at this, and he turned to Peter as he spoke.

"Hey, that's right! What do you say, Peter?" The curly haired boy shrugged.

"I don't care either way. It seems to me that going to Pewter City is the only logical option." Stephen stretched his back and legs, turning to his two Pokemon when he was finished.

"What do you say, guys? Want to go give it a try?" Charmander and Machop grinned, both of them giving their trainer a thumbs up. Chikorita and Totodile's moods had also lifted considerably, as they sensed in their trainers a hope that hadn't been there a minute ago. The celebrations were cut short by a voice calling out from behind the group.

"You think you really have what it takes to win a gym badge?" The entire group whirled around to see who the question came from. Standing about fifteen yards away stood a teenager, probably three or so years older than Stephen, Ethan, and Peter, with close cropped black hair. He was somewhat portly, but the fact that he was a couple inches taller than the other teens hid this marginally well. He was wearing a navy blue jean jacket with brown trousers. His face had one of the cockiest expressions Stephen had ever seen, causing the blonde haired teen to take an immediate disliking to the newcomer. However, he was able to keep his suspicions in check as he replied.

"Yeah, we do. Who's asking?" The older teens cocky smiled seemed to shift into a sneer before Stephen's very eyes.

"The name's Casey. I'd ask you for your names, but I really don't give a shit." Stephen had to utilize a sizeable amount of self-control to keep himself from sending a biting retort.

"There's no need for that kind of language, Casey." The older boy turned his attention to Peter, gazing down his nose at the curly haired trainer.

"And what makes you think you can boss me around, four eyes?" Angry, Ethan stepped in on his friend's behalf.

"Ok, cut it out, man. I don't know where you come off at, but nothing gives you the right to be a jackass for no reason." Casey looked Ethan up and down, a genuine smile slowly spreading across his face.

"I've got no quarrel with you, dude. I'm willing to bet you're a better trainer than these other two jokes combined." Ethan was taken aback by the sudden compliment.

"Wh-what makes you say that?" Casey gestured to the group's Pokemon as he answered.

"You're Pokemon, that's what. From the position they're in, it's easy to tell whose is whose. The Charmander and Machop obviously belong to blondey over there. I'm telling you that neither of the two looks all that strong, probably because their trainer blows." Machop glared at Casey and cracked his knuckles, but Stephen had to quickly grab the Charmander's tail to stop him from mauling the black haired trainer. Casey gestured at their reactions to his words.

"See? He can barely control them! And as for that Totodile, it's obviously four eyes' over there. I can tell because a; it looks weak as shit, and b; it's hiding behind his leg." Even though Casey was saying all these things to be a jerk, Ethan had to admit everything he said was making sense.

"And what about me? Why am I different?" Casey smiled at this.

"Isn't it obvious? You're the only one whose Pokemon isn't either hiding or trying to maul my face off." And it was true. Chikorita did have an extremely pissed off expression on her face, but she was standing motionless next to Ethan, not willing to move unless he gave her the go-ahead. Casey nodded approvingly.

"You seem to have taught your Pokemon the most important lesson you can teach them: obedience. They need to learn whose master and whose servant. You see, if they think-oof!" Casey was cut off mid-sentence by a sudden fist making contact with the side of his face. Everyone stared in surprise at Stephen, who was currently standing over Casey, a look of quiet fury on his face.

"Don't you ever, _ever_, talk about Pokemon like that!" Casey looked up at Stephen, fear briefly flashing across the older boys face. "Pokemon are not servants or slaves! They have just as much a right to do what they want as me or you. Understand?" The black haired teen snorted and stood up, brushing himself off as he responded.

"Spoken like a true reject of a trainer. You really think if you raise your Pokemon as equals that they'll ever reach their full potential? Pft." Stephen crossed his arms, scowling.

"I bet Charmander or Machop could beat any of you Pokemon." Casey's eyes glinted dangerously at these words.

"Is that a challenge, blondey?" Stephen nodded.

"It sure is, asshole. Charmander, you feel like teaching this guy a lesson?" Charmander growled and walked up to his trainer, his tail burning brighter as he replied.

"Charmander!" Machop walked up to Stephen as well, a slightly hurt expression on his face.

"Chopchop Machop chop?" Stephen smiled at the fighting type and gestured to his hand.

"I want to let your hand recover before we start training. Ok?" Machop nodded his understanding, happy that his new trainer was concerned about his safety. Casey's voice brought them back to the matter at hand.

"Charmander, huh? Then there's only one Pokemon for this job. Get out here, Poliwhirl!" The Pokemon that came out of Casey's poke ball is best described as a blue tadpole. Only instead of a tail, it had legs, not to mentions arms and hands with gloves on them. The majority of its belly was white with a swirl pattern.

"Poliwhirl!" Stephen pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the blue Pokemon, curious to find out about it.

"Poliwhirl, the Tadpole Pokemon. It can live in or out of water. When out of water, it constantly sweats to keep its body slimy." Stephen slid the Pokedex back into this pack, turning to Charmander as he spoke.

"Well, buddy, here we go. First battle against another trainer. You psyched?" Charmander grinned and gave his now trademark thumbs up, turning back to the Poliwhirl with a determined expression on his face. Ethan walked between the two trainers and their Pokemon.

"Well, if you two are intent on going through with this, I'll be the referee. I've seen enough battles to know how it works." Stephen and Casey nodded their consent and took their positions opposite each other. Ethan cleared his throat as he began to announce.

"This is going to be a one on one match between Stephen and Casey. Each trainer is only allowed one Pokemon. Let the match between Charmander and Poliwhirl begin!" No sooner had the words left Ethan's mouth then Casey yelled out his first command.

"Alright, Poliwhirl, start things out with Bubblebeam!" The symbol pattern on the tadpole Pokemon's chest began to glow as it responded to its master's command.

"Whirl!" Suddenly, an intense stream of bubble shot forth from the Pokemon's stomach, bearing down on Charmander with intense speed. Stephen's mind raced.

"Charmander, dodge it, quick!" The lizard nodded its understanding.

"Char!" The fire type rolled to his right, the stream of bubble hammering away at the area he had just vacated. Stephen let out a relieved sigh.

"That was a close one. Good job, Charmander." As the fire type nodded, Stephen began to formulate a plan.

_Alright, we're at a severe type disadvantage here. That Poliwhirl has us beat if we keep our distance, so I've got to find some way to close in on him. However, Casey seems to have focused solely on bulking up Poliwhirl's attack, so Charmander should have him beat when it comes to speed. Wait, I've got it!_ Stephen called out to his Charmander, satisfied with the plan he'd formulated.

"Charmander, use Ember!" The fire type nodded his understanding, and then proceeded to shoot a small ball of flame at Poliwhirl. Reflexively, Poliwhirl raised its arms to shield its face. The fire engulfed the tadpole Pokemon and then quickly disappeared, leaving the water type largely unscathed. Casey smirked at the futile effort.

"Did you honestly expect a fire attack, especially such a weak one as that, to do anything to Poliwhirl?" Stephen didn't reply, but smiled inwardly to himself. His plan was working. And he could tell by the quick look that Charmander had shot him that the fire type had caught on. Casey called out again.

"Hey, are you asleep over there?" A sly smile suddenly spread across the trainer's face as he asked this question. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. Poliwhirl, go!" Nodding to his trainer, the blue Pokemon faced Charmander once again. Slowly, the pattern on its chest began to swirl. Before Stephen realized what was happening, he began to feel drowsy. It was apparently affecting Charmander as well, as the Pokemon fell to one knee and rubbed its eye. Stephen finally realized what the design on Poliwhirl's chest meant.

"Charmander, snap out of it! Poliwhirl's trying to hypnotize us into falling asleep! Close your eyes!" Charmander responded immediately, slamming its eyes shut. It immediately felt better, getting back up on its feet. Stephen smiled at his friend. "Nice job, buddy. Now go, you know what to do!" Charmander grinned and took in a deep breath before unleashing another ball of flame at Poliwhirl. The tadpole again brought its arms up to shield its face. Only this time when it brought them back down, Charmander wasn't in the same place.

"Poliwhirl, behind you!" But Casey's warning came too late. After unleashing its Ember attack at Poliwhirl, Charmander had rushed in, using the attack as cover. While Poliwhirl was shielding its face, Charmander had slid between its legs and now had the blue Pokemon's unprotected back as an easy target. Stephen smiled as he saw his plan work out perfectly.

"Charmander, hit Poliwhirl with Scratch!" Charmander immediately leaped up and let loose on Poliwhirl's back, scoring a critical hit. Poliwhirl cried out in pain, falling forward on to its hands and knees. Casey stood there, too shocked to issue a command. Stephen was only too happy to make one of his own instead.

"Charmander, let's rap this up with Ember!" Grinning Charmander leaped into the air once more. Gathering as much energy as it could, Charmander unleashed one of the most powerful Embers of its life. Poliwhirl cried out as the flame engulfed it, its resistance to fire type attacks overshadowed by its currently weakened state and the sheer power of Charmander's attack. When the flames cleared, Poliwhirl was laying face down, unmoving. Ethan was quick to announce the winner.

"Poliwhirl is no longer able to battle. The winner is Stephen and his Charmander!" Stephen smiled as he rushed over to his now panting Charmander, a huge grin on his face.

"Great job, Charmander! You were amazing, buddy!" Machop, who had been following right behind Stephen, nodded in agreement. Charmander managed to smile but continued panting, clearly exhausted from its battle. Smiling, Stephen patted his fire type on the head. Peter's voice caused everybody to whirl around.

"Where you going, Casey?" The black haired trainer was about thirty yards away from the group, his back turned to them. His Poliwhirl was back in its poke ball, probably recalled while Stephen was talking to Charmander. The trainer turned around, his face calm and even.

"Not that it's any of your business, four eyes, but I'm going to make my Poliwhirl stronger. The fact that it lost to such a weak Pokemon, and a fire type at that, only goes to show how pathetic it is." Stephen stood up, not believing what he was hearing.

"How can you say that? Poliwhirl put up a great fight! It's not his fault his trainer isn't worth a krap." Casey huffed and whirled away, walking away without another word. Ethan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, hopefully that's the last we'll see of that guy." Peter nodded in agreement, but Stephen shook his head.

"No, we'll see Casey again. You can count on that. For what it's worth, I think I have myself a rival." Peter grimaced while Ethan shrugged.

"Hey, from what I saw, he's not really your rival. He had a clear type advantage and, no offence, a stronger Pokemon. Yet you found a way to beat him, utilizing superior tactics and speed. I'm willing to bet you're twice the trainer he is." Smiling Stephen scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know about that, but thanks for the compliment, Ethan. Still, I wouldn't have been able to do it without Charmander, he was great." Charmander blushed slightly at this, but the blush grew substantially when Chikorita chimed in her agreement.

"Chika chika!" Stephen smiled at everybody, clapping his hands together before he spoke.

"Well, what do you guys say we hit the road? I can't wait to get to Pewter and win my first badge." Ethan and Peter nodded, and then the group made their way down the road that would bring them to Pewter City, each of them wondering when they would see Casey again.

…..

**Well, there it is, for what it's worth.**

**Did you all enjoy the fourth installment of my story? If you have any questions/reviews/flames/suggestions or anything else, don't hesitate to utilize the largely ignored review button.**

**Chapter 5 will hopefully be up by Friday. Hopefully.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed and see you next time.**


	5. Scizor and the Beedrill

**Here I am, back yet again.**

**The story seems to be going along great for me, as I'm having a blast writing it. Not much of a following, but that's ok. At least I've got two people who seem to like it, so that's something.**

**Anyways, I don't own Pokémon, and here's Chapter 5.**

Chapter 5: Scizor and the Beedrill

It had been about two hours since the trio and their Pokémon had left Viridian City, and they had just settled down for a short break. Stephen, Machop, and Charmander leaned up against the tree, snacking on energy bars the teen had pulled out of his pack. Chikorita laid not that far away from Charmander, silently enjoying the brilliant mid-day sun. Totodile was sprawled out on the ground, extremely tired from all the physical activity he had to do. Peter sat on the ground next to his Pokémon while Ethan went behind a tree to relieve himself. As they sat there quietly resting, Peter pulled out a map and looked it over.

"According to the map, we're going to have to pass through Viridian Forest to reach Pewter City. That should be interesting." Stephen nodded, and then rested his head back against the tree, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess so. Maybe you and Ethan will catch your first Pokémon there?" Peter looked down at Totodile, patting his tired friend on the head.

"Yeah, maybe we will. What do you say, Totodile?" The blue croc looked up at his trainer, nodding his head earnestly.

"Dile!" Ethan walked returned from his bathroom break, his face showing what a relief an empty bladder could be.

"Ah, that felt _so_ good." Stephen opened his eyes as Ethan spoke, a small smile spreading across his face.

"I have no doubt about that. Few things feel as good in the world as taking a piss when you really have to go." Peter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Not that I don't agree, because I do, but do we have to talk about urinating? There's got to be something slightly more appropriate we can talk about." Ethan and Stephen exchanged glances and shrugged.

"Fine, Peter. Since it looks like everybody's rested and ready to go, I guess we should get going. Agreed?" Everyone gave their affirmation, and shortly there after the group was off again.

…..

Twenty minutes later saw the trio of teens and their Pokémon arriving at the beginning of Viridian Forest. Lush green trees stretched on as far as the eye could see, providing a wonderful amount of shade for those using the path. Stephen breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of the forest air.

"Boy, the air sure is nice here." commented Stephen as the boys continued their march along the path. "The trees sure do help keep it clean and cool." Peter nodded his consent as he replied.

"Yeah, it sure does. Not to mention the fact that the shade feels immaculate after walking under the hot sun for so long." Totodile nodded his head frantically in support of his trainer's words, the Pokemon's enthusiasm having returned now that the group wasn't constantly being beat on by the sun. Chikorita, on the other hand, didn't share the blue croc's opinion.

"Chikachika chikorita rita chika." Ethan looked down at his grass type, trying hard not to smile at her.

"Yes, Chikorita, we understand that, as a grass type, you enjoy the sun. But I think you're the only one here who isn't glad for a little shade." Huffing, Chikorita turned her attention to Charmander, a hopeful expression on her face as she spoke.

"Ritarita?" Charmander was taken aback by the sudden question, blushing slightly as Chikorita continued to stare at him. The fire lizard reached back and scratched his head, grinning embarrassedly and giving Chikorita a thumbs up.

"Char char mander char." Chikorita offered the embarrassed lizard a small smile at these words, turning back to Ethan with a knowing expression on her face.

"Chika chikorita rita chika!" Ethan rolled his eyes at his Pokemon, turning away from her as he replied.

"Well _excuse _me! So there's one other person here that enjoyed the sun! Yeesh!" Chikorita smiled smugly as she walked alongside her trainer, seemingly content that she had won the argument. Stephen looked down at Charmander, trying hard not to smile when he noticed that the normally orange Pokemon's face was now scarlet. The blonde teen was just about to advise his friend to go and talk to Chikorita, but a rustling in the bushes a few yards ahead cut him off. The group looked over at the bushes, an uncomfortable silence falling over the group as they waited. Feeling the need to do something, Stephen cleared his throat and then called out:

"Uh, hello? Is there anybody there?" In answer to his question, something crawled out from the bush. It heavily resembled a large caterpillar; its segmented body was mainly green with a yellowish stomach. On its head it had two very large eyes and what very closely resembled a slingshot. Intrigued, Stephen pulled out his Pokedex and pointed at the new arrival.

"Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon. Caterpie has a voracious appetite. It can devour leaves bigger than its body right before your eyes. From its antenna, this Pokémon releases a terrifically strong odor." Closing and putting the device away, Stephen looked over at Ethan and Peter, not sure what they should do. Responding to Stephen's unasked question, Peter knelt down on the ground in front of the Caterpie, putting on a friendly smile as he spoke.

"Hey there, Caterpie. How are you doing?" The green bug looked up at Peter, a smile spreading across its face.

"Pie." Totodile walked over, smiling at the new Pokemon.

"Diledile Totodile?" Caterpie looked over to Totodile, and then gestured to the bush it was in.

"Caterpie piepie cater." Totodile looked around the bush to find that the caterpillar wasn't lying. The hungry little bug had been munching away at the bush, and had already consumed the entire back half, causing Totodile to gawk visibly. Stephen walked over to the caterpillar, looking around as he did so.

"Does he live around here? I don't like the idea of such a little guy being out in the forest all alone. It could be dangerous." Suddenly, a loud buzzing sound caused the boys to stop talking. The Caterpie began to whimper, inching forward to hide behind Peter's leg, Totodile hiding behind the other one. Ethan and Chikorita looked one way down the path, Stephen and his Pokemon looking the other. Out of nowhere four large Pokemon appeared, two to each side of the path. They were best described as giant bees with large lances on their forelegs. Ethan gulped loudly.

"Krap, those are Beedrill. And they look _really _pissed." Stephen nodded, taking a step back towards Peter.

"I remember Prof. Oak once telling me that Beedrill are extremely territorial. Do you think we're too close to a nest of theirs?" Even though he couldn't see it, Stephen could tell that Ethan had shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's certainly possible. Whatever the reason, having four angry Beedrill on our hands isn't going to be easy. They're stingers are incredibly poisonous, not to mention that Beedrill themselves are wicked fast. I don't know how we'll pull this off if they're here to fight." The last had just left Ethan's lips when the four Beedrill attacked. As the attacking Pokemon closed in, Stephen and Ethan called out orders.

"Charmander, use Ember to slow their charge! Machop, try and land a solid blow without using your injured hand!"

"Chikorita, hit them with Razor Leaf!" The Pokemon responded to their respective trainer's orders immediately. The flame on Charmander's tail burned bright as the fire type unleashed a ball of flame at the two Beedrill on his side. Due to the speed at which they were flying, only one of the large bugs was able to veer out of the way. The unlucky one took the blast head on, lost control of its flight due to the pain, and crashed into a tree, effectively knocking itself out. The one that had managed to dodge the flame turned to Machop, who was trying to land a clean blow. However, its injured hand encumbered the normally agile Pokemon, and Beedrill was only too willing to take advantage of that.

Chikorita's battle was going about as well as Machop's. The Razor Leaf the grass type had started the battle off with had done near to nothing, grass types moves basically pointless against the poison and bug type Beedrill. However, neither Chikorita nor her trainer was ready to give up yet.

"Alright, Chikorita, hit one of them with Tackle!"

"Chika!" The grass type rushed towards the closest Beedrill, lowering her head and drilling it hard in the mid-section. But while the attack had stopped one of the Beedrill, the other one had slipped past and was now upon Peter. Only it didn't seem interested in Peter at all. Rather, it was thrusting at the boy's legs, trying to hit the Caterpie. Something clicked in Stephen's mind when he quickly glanced back and noticed this.

"Peter, these Beedrill are after that Caterpie! Don't let them get it." Nodding his understanding, Peter called out an order to Totodile.

"Totodile, use Bite on Beedrill!" The blue croc responded immediately, leaping out from behind Peter and biting the large bee in the middle of its back, landing in a position where it would be safe from the bee's stingers. Beedrill grunted in pain as the blue croc bit down on its back. Taking off, the large bug attempted to shake Totodile off its back, spinning and changing directions rapidly. Totodile was just about to loose its grip when Peter yelled out a new command.

"Nice job, Totodile. Now, let go and hit it with Water Gun." The blue croc opened its mouth, slipped off Beedrill's back, and began to fall back towards Earth. As the large insect noticed this, it began to chase after the falling Pokemon. It was then that Totodile opened its mouth and shot a blast of water at the oncoming Beedrill, catching it full in the face. Totodile landed clumsily next to Peter, breathing hard from all the physical exertion. Meanwhile, the Water Gun, while damaging, seemed to have only ticked the Beedrill of. As the large bee bore down on the now tired Totodile and with Stephen and Ethan's Pokemon currently caught up in their own battles, things didn't look good. But as the Beedrill pulled back one of its stingers for a strike, something flashed out from the forest.

"Zor!" The Beedrill didn't even have time to react before a glowing claw smashed into the side of its face, knocking it out cold. Before Peter had time to figure out what had hit the Beedrill, the mysterious arrival flashed off in a blur of movement towards Ethan and Chikorita. Sensing movement behind her, the grass type had just turned her head when the stranger rushed past her and struck the Beedrill Chikorita had been fighting with a powerful blow to its mid-section, which sent it flying back into a tree and neatly knocking it unconscious. But as the new arrival turned around, it stopped in its tracks. Its next target, the Beedrill that Machop had been battling, lay unconscious at the feet of Charmander, its body slightly blacker than it used to be.

"What is that Pokemon?" asked Peter, finally able to get a good look at it now that it had stopped moving. It had a hard, almost steel-like, red exoskeleton; with two large pincers for hands that each had what appeared to be fake eyes. Curious, Stephen pulled out his Pokedex again and pointed it at the strange arrival.

"Scizor, the Pincer Pokemon. This Pokémon's pincers, which contain steel, can crush any hard object it gets a hold of into bits." Stephen closed the Pokedex and put it away, looking at the new arrival curiously.

"Wow, did you guys see that? That Scizor completely destroyed those two Beedrill." Ethan nodded, continuing to stare at the Scizor as Stephen, Peter, and their Pokemon walked over to him and Chikorita. The Caterpie that had been hiding behind Peter's leg peeked out, letting out a little cheer when it saw the Scizor.

"Piepie Caterpie!" The Scizor looked down as the caterpillar crawled towards it, a stern expression its face. When Caterpie noticed this, it stopped in its tracks and stared at the ground, much like a child would.

"Scizor zor zor scizor!" The Scizor seemed to be scolding the Caterpie, much like a mother would a child. And, Stephen realized, the Scizor was in fact female, as the abdomen on this one was much larger than a male's would be. The Caterpie seemed to be trying to melt into the ground. The sight of the saddened Caterpie seemed to calm down the Scizor, a motherly expression replacing the stern look she had had on. Bending down, the Scizor picked up the Caterpie and rocked it back and forth, bringing a smile back to the caterpillar's face. Ethan looked back to his companions, a confused expression on his face.

"What was all that about?" Peter shrugged, but Stephen had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"As far as I can tell, Scizor was scolding Caterpie from going to far away from the grove, even though it knew it was dangerous." Scizor looked up as Stephen was speaking, suspicion spreading over its face.

"Scizor?" The group looked over at the red Pokemon, a slight unease settling over the group.

"Do you think she thinks we're here to hurt that Caterpie too?" asked Ethan. Stephen shrugged, but didn't dismiss the idea as a possibility.

"Charmander, tell Scizor we're not here to hurt Caterpie. In fact, we protected it." Charamander nodded and began to approach Scizor, but stopped in his tracks when the red Pokemon growled threateningly. Charmander looked over to Chikorita.

"Char char Charmander?" Chikorita smiled at Charmander, understanding that a fire type wouldn't be as accepted by a Steel and Bug type as a grass type would. Walking up to Scizor, Chikorita put a friendly smile on her face.

"Chikachika rita Chika." Scizor looked skeptically at Chikorita, but Caterpie nodded its head in affirmation of her words.

"Piepie Caterpie!" The green caterpillar looked over at Totodile and Peter, smiling gratefully. Peter and his blue Pokemon smiled happily.

"Don't mention it, Caterpie. I'm just glad that Beedrill didn't get to you."

"Dile!" Scizor placed Caterpie back on the ground and turned to the group, bowing its head.

"Scizor zor." Stephen smiled and waved the words of thanks away.

"Don't even worry about it, Scizor. Helping Caterpie was the only option as far as we were concerned. Right, guys?" Ethan nodded as Peter replied.

"Yeah, it was no trouble. I can't stand people who pick on those who are weaker than them, and Pokemon are no exception." The Scizor looked up, a friendly smile now on its face. But as Scizor opened her mouth to speak, a loud buzzing sound cut her off. Ethan gulped as he said:

"I think those Beedrill were just a scout group. That's probably their reinforcements coming now. We should get out of here while we can." Responding to Ethan's words, Scizor scooped up Caterpie, motioned for the group to follow her, and took off into the forest. Not wishing to fight anymore Beedrill if it could be helped, the boys and their Pokemon followed quickly, leaving the path deserted, except for the four unconscious Beedrill, that is.

…..

Five minutes later, the group broke out of the forest into a clearing, causing the trio of teens to stop and stare.

"Wow…" was all that Stephen could manage. There were dozens of Caterpie in the grove, munching happily on any leaves they could find. But what really amazed the boys was the other Pokemon there. There were countless numbers of Metapod, all in various stages of their evolution. Also situated in the grove were several Butterfree, though not as may as there should have been. The boys watched as many of the Caterpie rushed over to Scizor, all of them looking extremely happy to see her. Smiling, the red Pokemon put down the Caterpie she was holding and smiled at the exuberant youngster, patting them on their heads and sending them on their way. When the Caterpie had gone back to eating or playing, an elderly Butterfree came over to Scizor.

"Freefree Butterfree?" Scizor looked at the old Pokemon, bowing her head respectfully.

"Scizor zorzor Scizor." The Butterfree got a grave expression its face after Scizor had spoken.

"I think that that Butterfree is the leader of this group." Ethan whispered out of the side of his mouth. The Butterfree looked over at the trio and there Pokemon now. Nodding his head at them, he turned back to Scizor and asked:

"Free Butterfree?" Scizor nodded and gestured to the group.

"Zor Scizor Scizor zor." Butterfree smiled and nodded, looking back over to the boys its gaze settled on Stephen. Closing its eyes, the Butterfree's body began to glow. Suddenly, Stephen heard a voice whispering in his mind.

_Hello, human. I am the leader of this grove. I thank you and your friends for saving young Caterpie from those Beedrill._ Stephen jumped at the words in his head, turning to his friends.

"Do you guys hear that?" Ethan looked at the blonde teen strangely.

"Hear what, Stephen?" Stephen scratched his head, looking back to the old Butterfree, who still had its eyes closed. An idea came to him. "I think…I think that old Butterfree is talking to me telepathically." Ethan's eyes widened at this, but Peter nodded his head.

"Yes, that makes sense. Butterfree have psychic abilities, so I guess it's possible. This is an amazing discovery. What's it saying?"

"It thanked us for saving Caterpie from the Beedrill." Peter and Ethan smiled, turning back to the butterfly.

"It was no trouble, Butterfree. We were happy to help." The voice returned to Stephen's mind.

_It does an old heart good to see such kindness in others. And it is because of this selflessness that I feel bad about making a request from you three. _Stephen blinked at the last part.

"A request? What of?" As the voice began to reply, a sudden commotion caused the group to turn. Charmander, who had apparently been trying to say hello to the young Caterpie, was currently being harassed by a trio of younger Butterfree. As the elder Butterfree turned towards the commotion, Stephen discovered that the psychic link was still active.

"You three, cut that out! That Charmander is a guest of honor here." The largest of the three Butterfree turned towards the older Pokemon, and as it spoke, Stephen realized he could understand the other Butterfree as well.

"But father, he is a fire tail! Have you forgotten it was one much like him that destroyed our previous home?" The older Butterfree responded, visibly fighting to keep anger out of his voice.

"How could I forget, my son? We lost your dear mother in that blaze! Do you think I could forget that?" The younger butterfly was considerably humbled at that.

"Of course not, father. I-I know you would never forget mother. But this fire type-"

"This fire type was not responsible for that!" The village leader said, cutting his son off. "Your mother would be ashamed if she was here to see you holding that disaster against somebody who just put his life on the line for one of our own." By this time, the son had lost its will to argue. Considerably humbled, the young Pokemon bowed his head.

"Forgive me, father. I spoke in anger." Turning back to Charmander, the butterfly bowed his head again. "And I ask you for forgiveness as well, flame tail." Charmander waved it off.

"Char char." _So the psychic link only lets me understand Butterfree, huh?_ Stephen's train of thought was interrupted by Ethan clearing his throat.

"Uh, Stephen? Care to tell us what happened?" Blinking, Stephen remembered that Peter and Ethan didn't have the link that he had. Quickly recovering, Stephen told his friends all that had happened. After mentally digesting this new information, Ethan said:

"So, what's this request he has or us?" The voice returned to Stephen's mind.

_Yes, my request. But before I can ask it of you, I believe you should hear the story leading to it. I would appreciate it if you would tell it to your friends as I do._ _You see…_ And so the old Pokemon began his tale, stopping periodically so Stephen could bring Peter and Ethan up to speed. The Pokemon in this grove hadn't lived here until this year. They had inhabited a different grove to the east of this one for as long as the old butterfly could remember. That is, until one Pokemon had burnt down the grove. In the blaze, both the old Butterfree's mate and the grove were lost.

"That's terrible!" Peter exclaimed after Stephen had relayed this information to his friends.

"Chikacika!" Ethan's grass type Pokemon agreed. Stephen looked over at her and had to force himself not to smile. Without realizing it, Chikorita had snuggled up to Charmander for comfort during the sad tale, making the fire type blush profusely. Machop snickered at his embarrassed teammate.

_Yes, it saddens me every time I think about it. Still, I have my son to remind me of her. That helps me get by._ The Butterfree told of how the group had migrated in search of an appropriate grove. Finding this one abandoned was like a gift from above. Or, it had at the time. Not long after there arrival, a hive of Beedrill had come here. Apparently, the Pokemon had used this grove before, but had moved on to allow the foliage to grow back.

_I suggested that we share the grove_, the old Butterfree said in Stephen's mind, _but the Beedrill would have none of it. They demanded that we leave and find a new place. I tried to explain to them how unreasonable this was, but they just wouldn't listen. When they resorted to violence, we were forced to respond in kind. We held our own for awhile, but they had an advantage in numbers. When it seemed we would have to give in, Scizor here lent us a hand._ At the mention of her name, Scizor smiled and waved.

_She has acted as our guardian for awhile now, providing a defense for our young that the few of us that are old enough to fight couldn't provide much longer. However, her services are close to being not needed. If you hadn't noticed, many of the Metapod here are close to evolving._ And it was true, the boys realized as they looked around the grove. In act, many of the Metapod looked like they would evolve by tonight. And suddenly it made sense to Stephen.

"Your request…I'm guessing you're going to ask us to help Scizor defend the grove. Am I right?" The Butterfree looked down at the ground, his expression grave.

_I understand if you don't want to get involved in this. I wouldn't ask if we didn't really need your help. But nobody will think less of you if you want-_ Stephen cut the old Pokemon off.

"Yeah, _I _would think less of myself. You can count me in. What about you guys?" The response was unanimous.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else!"

"Just tell us what to do!"

"Chop!"

"Diledile!"

"Chika!"

"Char!" Startled by the Charmander's voice so close to her, Chikorita realized what she had been doing. Blushing, Chikorita ran back to Ethan, leaving Charmander both relieved and disappointed. Stephen smiled at his friends, and then turned back to Butterfree.

_I can not thank you enough for you kindness._ Stephen waved it away.

"No thanks necessary. How much time do you think we have until they get here?" A loud buzzing sound drifted into the grove, answering his question.

"They're here."

…..

**Well, there's my first cliffhanger of the story.**

**How did this chapter work for you? If you have anything to say, anything at all, there's a small and largely unused review button at the bottom of the page.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading this, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!**


	6. The Battle for the Grove

**Big news! It would now appear I have three reviewers for this story, which is awesome.**

**Back to the point, I don't own Pokemon, and here's Chapter 6.**

Chapter 6: Battle for the Grove

"Get ready, everybody!" There was a rush of activity in the grove, everybody responding to the eminent threat. The Caterpie rushed into the bushes and trees, apparently seeking to hide themselves. What few Butterfree there were covered up the Metapod, camouflaging cocoons in an attempt to protect them from harm. Stephen walked over to Scizor, who was directing a group of Caterpie into a nearby tree.

"No offence, Scizor, but shouldn't the Caterpie be hiding somewhere safer than in the trees?" The armored female shrugged, a somewhat sad expression on her face as she replied.

"Zor scizor scizor." Stephen smiled, a conspiratorial grin on his face as he spoke.

"Actually, I'm somewhat glad this is the best you guys could do. I have a couple ideas I would like to lay on you." Scizor listened as Stephen laid out his plan, a smile slowly spreading across her features as she listened.

…..

After Scizor went off to make the preparations, Stephen turned and went back to Peter and Ethan, who were discussing how to best approach the situation.

"I think our best bet is a straight up fight." Ethan was saying. "If we retreat into the forest, we've already given the Beedrill what they want." Peter shook his head adamantly.

"That's ridiculous, Ethan. We wouldn't be able to win a straight up fight against Beedrill! They're way too fast and powerful. We're better off hiding in the forest and using guerilla tactics." As Stephen arrived, Peter looked to him.

"What do you think, Stephen?" The blonde teen thought it over a short while before responding. The buzzing was growing increasingly louder, so he knew there wasn't much time.

"I think both of your ideas make sense, but neither one will work on its own. I think we're going to have to combine both of those to have a shot at this. I've talked to Scizor about some ideas I had, and-" as he was speaking, a small group of Butterfree and Caterpie passed by, carrying an assortment of leaves and vines. Noticing this, Ethan pointed to them as he passed.

"That part of your plans?" Stephen smiled, motioning for the pair to draw closer.

"Alright, guys, this is what I had in mind."

…..

The preparations had just been finished when the Beedrill arrived. Ethan gulped as the giant bees appeared over the trees, each of them fully grown and looking for a fight. In the middle of the grove stood Stephen and Ethan, with Chikorita and Charmander by their respective trainer's sides.

"Chika…" uttered Chikorita, fear flashing across her face. Looking over at the unnerved grass type, Charmander put on a supportive smile.

"Char char mander Charmander char." Smiling at the fire lizard, Chikorita felt the fear begin to drain out of her. Sensing this, Charmander flashed her a thumbs up, looking up to Stephen after Chikorita had nodded her thanks. "Charmander?" The blonde haired teen smiled down at his friend, patting him on the head as he replied.

"Yeah, Charmander, I'm a little scared. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, right?" Looking over to Ethan, Stephen offered his new friend a smile.

"Strange, isn't it? We've known each other only a few hours, and already we find ourselves caught up in some huge plot out of a bad story." Ethan laughed at this, the tension seeming to fall off of his shoulders.

"Before Peter and I met you, we never had anything crazy like this happen to us. I'm half inclined to ditch you the first chance I get." Laughing, the two teens turned back to the issue at hand. Currently, the largest of the Beedrill, most likely the leader, was flying down to meet the old Butterfree. The pair stopped about ten yards apart, each staring evenly at the other. The voice returned to Stephen's mind as the Butterfree spoke.

"I ask you one last time to reconsider. We can share the grove, there's no need for violence!" The Beedrill shook its head adamantly. Although the blonde teen couldn't understand what it said next, he could tell it was something about the Beedrill being unwilling to share anything. Shaking its head, the old Butterfree replied with great remorse.

"Then you leave us no choice." At these words, the Beedrill attacked. The old Butterfree barely had time to dodge out of the way as one of the Beedrill's stingers shot into the space where the elder had just been. In response to the attack, the old Pokemon's eyes began to glow, and it shot a powerful beam of psychic energy at its assailant, catching it squarely in the side. However, Stephen and Ethan were unable to see anymore of the fight, as the swarm of Beedrill had chosen to attack when their leader had. Stephen waited until the majority was near the trees, and then gave the order.

"Ok, everybody, go now!" At his word, the blonde haired teen's plan became apparent. From the trees, numerous Caterpie poked out their heads, unleashing String Attacks at the enemy swarm and neatly ensnaring a hefty amount. Those who avoided the sticky string were met by the second layer of defense, which was courtesy of the Butterfree. Taking large leaves, the Butterfree had created bags filled with their Sleeppowder and Stun Spore attacks. These leaf bags were now being hurled at the Beedrill from the trees by makeshift slingshots fashioned out of rubbery vines and by Stephen's Machop, who was hitting every single bee he threw at. However, there was not enough Caterpie or powder bags to stop all the Beedrill, and a sizeable amount found their way past the two layers of defense. And so it came down to the final stand.

"Alright, attack!" The few Butterfree there were sped out of the forest, launching attacks at the Beedrill varying from Gust and Tackle to Stun Spore and Psybeam. The Beedrill were caught off guard by the surprise attack, but quickly recovered before their losses became too great. As the Pokemon began to duke it out in the sky, a flash of red shot across the grove, and a Beedrill fell to the ground, completely unconscious. As another one turned to see what the red thing was, a blast of water hit square in the back and sent it to the ground. When two more Beedrill tried to find the source of these surprise attacks, they were rewarded with a stout log to the face, hurled by the now smiling Machop.

"Look sharp, Stephen, we've got company." Ethan's words caused Stephen to tear his eyes away from the awesome battle raging overhead. Currently bearing down on the pair and their Pokemon were two large Beedrill, each of them looking eager to knock some heads for their downed comrades. Smiling, Stephen looked down at his Charmander.

"Ok, buddy, let's show those Beedrill what happens when you mess with us. Use Ember!" Charmander nodded and unleashed the fire attack, which caused the Beedrill to break off their reckless charge while at the same time singing one Beedrill's side. Ethan called out an order to Chikorita.

"Alright, Chikorita hit them with Razor Leaf!" The grass type planted her feet and rotated the leaf on her head, shooting a number of sharp leaves at the two Beedrill. A sudden idea came to Stephen.

"Charmander, quick use Ember on Chikorita's Razor Leaf." Nodding his understanding, the fire lizard shot another burst of flame, this time aimed at Chikorita's attack. As the fire hit the Razor Leaf, Stephen's idea became apparent to Ethan, making the black haired teen smile.

"Great idea, Stephen! Razor Leaf is almost completely ineffective against Beedrill, but with Charmander's Ember providing an extra kick, this attack will really do some damage!" No sooner had the words left Ethan's mouth then had the flaming Razor Leaf hit home, dealing serious damage to the Beedrill. As the two Pokemon fell to their ground and began to rise, Stephen issued a final order to his orange friend.

"Alright, Charmander, let's finish this with Ember!" Nodding, Charmander unleashed the flaming ball for the third and last time of the battle, knocking the two Beedrill out. Charmander turned to Chikorita, grinning and flashing her a thumbs up, complimenting her on a great battle. Chikorita responded with a happy smile, blushing slightly at the fire lizard's praise. Ethan and Stephen gave each other a high five, and then turned to see how the battle was going.

"Oh man…" The battle wasn't going nearly as well for the Butterfree as it had for Chikorita and Charmander. Even with the guerilla attacks from Totodile, Machop, and Scizor, the Beedrill still had the Butterfree severely outnumbered. Meanwhile, the old Butterfree was battling fiercely with the Beedrill leader, but it was apparent that the old Pokemon was tiring quickly, and unless something happened soon, it appeared that the battle would be lost. And that's when it happened.

"What's that?" Ethan asked, gesturing to a while light that was shining from behind a clump of grass. In answer to his question, the grass suddenly flew apart to reveal a Metapod with a giant hole in it. And out of that hole climbed a brand new Butterfree. The battle stopped with the new arrival, and suddenly everybody noticed that white lights were shining everywhere. Before one could really realize what was happening, a large amount of the Metapod completed their metamorphosis. Stephen stared in awe as the new Butterfree took to the sky, their numbers easily greater those of the Beedrill. When the large bees realized this, they also realized that their chance of winning and reclaiming the grove had just erupted in their face. Sighing deeply, the Beedrill leader turned to the old Butterfree, bowing his head in gesture of surrender. The old Butterfree took a deep breath to steady his breathing before responding.

"Now leave this grove, and do not return. We offered you friendship, and you chose violence. Leave before we decide to make a similar mistake." Nodding its head, the Beedrill leader signaled for his followers to leave. After picking up their unconscious and incapacitated comrades, the invading force flew away from the grove, all intentions to claim it as their own thoroughly crushed. Soon after the Beedrill had left, a loud cheer emanated from the grove.

…..

"I can't believe we won." Stephen, Peter, Ethan, their Pokemon, Scizor, and the old Butterfree were currently sitting in the middle of the grove. It had only been five minutes since the end of the battle, but the energy lost in the fight seemed to have magically returned to all those present. Small groups of Caterpie scampered about the grove, playing games in celebration of the victory. The newly evolved Butterfree were moving the Metapod who hadn't evolved back into sight, the danger posed by the Beedrill no longer there. Meanwhile, other Butterfree were reenacting the battle for the amusement of the Caterpie, and still others were using their wings to swirl powder in pretty patterns in the sky. Smiling at the celebrations, Ethan turned to Stephen.

"Well, I think the biggest thanks goes to Stephen. If not for his strategies, I don't think we would have won here today." Stephen smiled and waved the compliment.

"I don't think so, Ethan. It was a team effort, and don't forget that those Metapod evolving when they did was the true key to victory." Peter shook his head at the blonde teen's words.

"Don't be so modest, Stephen. While it's true that the evolved Butterfree made victory possible, they wouldn't have been much help if we had lost before they came. Your plans were the perfect thing to even the odds." Stephen blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I guess. Still, you guys were all great. Ethan, Chikorita was awesome in that fight against the Beedrill." The grass type looked up from the conversation she was having with Charmander, smiling at the praise from the blonde teen. Letting her get back to her talk with his fiery friend, Stephen turned to Peter.

"And Peter, the guerilla attacks were flawless. Totodile, Scizor, and Machop complimented each other perfectly." The three Pokemon exchanged glances at their names, each smiling at the part they had played in the victory. Stephen smiled happily at the camaraderie that was present in the group, and part of him wished the moment could last forever: Charmander and Chikorita smiling happily at each other, Machop and Totodile nudging each other playfully with their elbows, Scizor and Peter exchanging happy smiles; it was all just so perfect. Yet, the blonde teen realized that it would have to end soon. The old Butterfree's voice returned to his mind.

_I sense in you a strong desire to continue on your journey._ Stephen blinked, but soon found himself smiling at the old Pokemon, nodding his head solemnly.

"Yes, I would like to get going again. It's not that I don't enjoy being here, because I do. It's just…" Stephen's voice trailed off, causing the old Butterfree to smile.

"There is no need to explain, my friend. The urge to travel and chase one's dreams is dominant in one's youthful years. I wish you luck on your journey, and I am positive that you are destined for great things." Smiling, Stephen stood up and brushed himself off, turning to his friends as he spoke.

"Well, do you guys feel like hitting the road?" Ethan and Peter nodded their heads, standing up and stretching as they did so. Stephen turned back to the old Butterfree and bowed respectfully. "It has been an honor to meet you." The old Pokemon smiled at this.

"The honor was all mine, Stephen. And though I will never be able to thank you enough, I hope you enjoy the gift I have given you." When the teen's face showed nothing but confusion, the old Pokemon pointed to his head. "I have instilled in your psyche the ability to understand the Butterfree. Everywhere you go; it shall serve as a sign that you are a true friend to our species." Stephen didn't know quite what to say.

"I…um, thank…it's a true honor. Thank you." Turning from the old Pokemon, Stephen found his friends ready to go.

"Ready to go, guys?" Ethan and Peter nodded, and together the trio and their Pokemon began to exit the grove. However, they had just reached the edge of the clearing when a voice called after them.

"Scizor!" The group turned around to see Scizor rushing after them. Stopping a few feet away, the red Pokemon looked Peter straight in the face, and then bowed respectfully. "Scizor zorzor scizor?" Peter blinked a couple of times at this.

"You-you want to come with me?" The red female nodded her head, gesturing around the grove. Peter understood immediately. Her job was done here, as the grove no longer needed her services as a guardian. So, not knowing where else to go, the steel and bug type had chosen to travel with him. Smiling, Peter pulled out a poke ball and enlarged it.

"Scizor, it would be wonderful to have you along." Smiling, Scizor stood perfectly still as Peter threw the poke ball at her, continuing her utter lack of resistance as the ball wobbled back and forth and then finally stopped. Peter bent down and picked up the poke ball, letting Scizor out so she could walk with them through the forest and serve as a guide.

Smiling and waving goodbye to their friends in the grove, the group, along with the new addition of Scizor, continued on their way to Pewter City, eager to see how much more could happen in the remainder of their first day.

…..

**Well, what did you guys think of the battle? I liked the way it turned out, personally.**

**The updates will come slower now, but I still hope to have one a week.**

**Anyways, please remember to review/question/suggest with that little button down there.**

**Enjoy and see you next time!**


	7. Two For All

**I have an announcement to make: this story has now received over 100 hits! Awesome. From those numbers, I figure at least ten different people have read part of my story. I'm so happy, I'm crying. But not really.**

**Anyways, I don't own Pokemon, and I hope you enjoy chapter 7!**

Chapter 7: Two For All

The boys and their Pokemon had been walking for several hours when the sun began to set across the tree line. Realizing that walking through the woods in the dark was a bad idea, even with a path, Stephen turned to his friends.

"I think we should start looking for a clearing near the path to use as a campsite. We should get a goodnight's sleep, and then get an early start for Pewter in the morning." Ethan nodded his head in agreement as Peter turned to Scizor, who was currently carrying a wiped out Totodile in a very motherly fashion.

"Scizor, do you think you could find us a good place to make camp near the path?" The red female nodded her head as she handed Totodile over to Peter. After shaking and stretching out her limbs, the steel and bug type leapt into the nearest tree and shot off to find an appropriate spot. It didn't take long, as five minutes later the armored female rematerialized from the woods, gesturing for the group to follow her.

…..

The spot Scizor had found was about half a mile further down the path and about another tenth of a mile into the forest. True to her mission, Scizor had found the ideal spot for the group to camp in. The ground was not only nice and grassy, but it was also dry and level. A small creek lay not far away, and there was a beautiful view of the darkening night sky that would be absolutely gorgeous when the stars came out. Peter looked over at his new Pokemon, smiling approvingly.

"Excellent job, Scizor. This is going above and beyond the call of duty." Scizor smiled back at her new master, and then leapt into the branch of a tree outlining the clearing, seemingly intent on serving as the night watch from her vantage point. Turning back to Ethan and Stephen, Peter began rubbing his hands together.

"Well, I guess we should get camp set up before it gets too dark to see." Nodding their agreement, the three boys set off to do their separate tasks. Stephen and his Pokemon went out to gather firewood, Ethan and Chikorita refilled the canteens, and Peter began to unpack the food for dinner. Peter had just pulled out some collapsible cooking equipment from his bag when Stephen and his Pokemon returned with the wood. The blonde teen gestured to the equipment as he began arranging the wood in the pit they had made.

"What's with the cooking set, Peter?" It wasn't Peter who answered, but Ethan, as the olive skinned teen had just returned from his water gathering.

"Oh, Peter loves to cook. Whenever he had the remote at his house, we'd either be watching some cooking show or a mystery movie." Peter shot Ethan a friendly glare.

"I'll have you know that learning to cook is a very important skill, Ethan. We won't be able to count on our parents to feed us forever, and pizza and junk food only get you so far." Stephen cut in at this.

"I don't know, Peter. Pizza and junk food could take me pretty far." As Ethan and Stephen laughed, Peter let out an indignant huff.

"Well, if you want to clog your arteries, be my guest." Without waiting for a response, Peter pulled out several containers from his pack. Popping the lids of several of them, the brown haired teen began to pick his ingredients. Without looking up from his work, he said: "Stephen, could you get a fire going?"

"How about it, Charmander?" The fire lizard, who had been gazing up at the night sky, smiled happily at his master, opening his mouth and breathing a small flame onto the firewood. The dry timber caught immediately, and soon a good size fire was burning in the pit. Stephen, Ethan, Chikorita, and Machop gathered around the pretty blaze, warming their tired bones after a hard days work. Charmander, who really didn't need the fire, moved off a couple of feet and lay back on the grass, watching the stars beginning to wink into existence. Chikorita looked over at Charmander and, seeing he was alone, made her way over to give him some company. Charmander's smile as she approached quickly turned to a blush as the female grass type snuggled up to him for warmth and comfort. Scizor continued to sit up in her tree, keeping half of her attention on the clearing and the other half on the forest surrounding it. Peter continued with his culinary endeavor, his Totodile sleeping in a ball next to him.

…..

"Alright, guys, food's ready." No sooner had the words left Peter's mouth than had Stephen rushed over. When the blonde teen was close enough he sniffed the air appreciatively as his stomach growled noticeably.

"Wow, Peter, it smells great. What is it?" Peter smiled and gave Stephen a plate, answering him as he did.

"It's chicken fried rice. Not the fanciest thing ever, but it gets the job done." Stephen turned his attention away from the meal and looked over at Charmander, who was currently trying to get over to the food without waking up Chikorita, who had fallen asleep next to him. Peter noticed this and nudged Stephen playfully.

"What do you think their kids will look like?" Stephen laughed quietly at this, shrugging his shoulders as he replied.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Peter. They just met today, and it might not really mean anything." Peter raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Easy, Stephen, I was just making a joke. What's really funny is that Ethan hasn't noticed at all."

"Noticed what?" Stephen and Peter looked up as Ethan sat down and took a plate of rice, gazing at them intently.

"No, that would ruin the surprise." Ethan stared at Stephen for a moment, shrugged, and when back to eating. Stephen and Peter exchanged knowing glances and went back to their own meals. Charmander soon arrived to grab some chow as well, having successfully managed to move without waking Chikorita. Machop was the next to arrive, briefly taking a break from his meditation to grab a bite to eat. Scizor remained up in her tree, eating some assorted fruits she had found while searching for the campsite. The only two who didn't eat were Chikorita and Totodile, both of whom were sleeping soundly.

After finishing dinner, the trio of teens took the dirty plates to the creek and cleaned them. Charmander walked over to the tree Machop was meditating next to and laid against it, almost immediately falling asleep. Stephen smiled at his two Pokemon, giving them each a good night pat on the head before pulling out his sleeping bag. Saying a polite goodnight to Ethan and Peter, the blonde teen curled up in his bag and quickly fell asleep. Peter followed soon after, picking up Totodile and his sleeping bag before saying goodnight to Ethan and lying down beneath the tree Scizor was positioned in. Not long after, Ethan fell asleep next to his Chikorita, and all were asleep, every single person exhausted from the first day of their journey.

…..

The next morning, Peter and Ethan awoke to find that they were alone in the camp. Their brief panic that came with the realization of this fact was quickly assuaged when they heard Stephen's voice about thirty yards downstream. Following the sound of the blonde trainer's voice, Peter and Ethan soon emerged into another, smaller clearing than the one their camp was in. In this new clearing were all their Pokemon and Stephen and his own. Catching site of his two new friends, the blonde trainer smiled and waved.

"Good morning, guys. How'd you two sleep?" The other two teens replied and gestured to the Pokemon.

"Why is everybody here, Stephen? You almost gave me a freaking heart attack." said Peter. Stephen put on an embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that. I woke up early, and seeing as how Charmander and Machop were already awake, I figured we'd get some training in. We were trying to leave camp quietly, but Scizor saw us and came over." Scizor nodded her head in affirmation at this, and then Stephen continued.

"When I told her what we were going to do, she thought it would be a good idea to bring everybody. I said I didn't want to wake anybody, but at that moment Chikorita and Totodile woke up, so we decided to bring them as well. Sorry again." Ethan waved the apology off.

"Nothing to forgive, man. It looks like everybody's working hard." And Ethan was right. All five Pokemon were giving their all, and the battles reflected that. Scizor and Machop were sparring in hand-to-hand combat. One could barely comprehend the speed at which the punches were flying, albeit Machop's bandaged hand was a severe handicap. Still, the battle was intense, each Pokemon parrying, countering, and dodging so fluidly and powerfully it was amazing that not a single blow landed against either.

Meanwhile, Charmander was engaged in a two-on-one battle against Chikorita and Totodile. Surprisingly, the fire lizard appeared to be winning the fight. Ethan and Peter watched as Totodile shot a blast of water at Charmander, who then gracefully leapt over it while at the same time shooting a carefully controlled Ember at Chikorita, who had been coming in from behind. The grass type jumped backwards to avoid the hit, which was all that Charmander needed. Completing his aerial spin, the orange lizard landed into a roll and came up swiping at Totodile with Scratch. The blue croc hopped back to avoid the blow, but it was exactly what Charmander had been expecting. Using the momentum of his scratch to continue spinning, Charmander lashed out with his tail and caught Totodile around the legs, which sent him sprawling to the ground. Quick as a flash, Charmander was on top if the blue croc, pinning him down. Smiling, the orange lizard tapped Totodile on the forehead, signaling that he had won the mock battle. Charmander then got off the water type and offered him a friendly hand off the ground. Smiling, Totodile accepted the offered assistance and let himself be yanked off of his back.

"Dilediledile Totodile diledile!" Charmander waved the praise off modestly.

"Charcharchar mander Charmander." Chikorita walked over to the pair, shaking her head at Charmander's humbleness.

"Chika chikorita chikorita." Charmander blushed fitfully at Chikorita's words of admiration, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Ch-char." Chikorita smiled happily at the blushing fire type; a small part of her was thrilled that she could make him turn so scarlet. Turning around, Chikorita ran over to Ethan and smiled up happily at him. The olive skinned trainer smiled as he knelt down and patted her head.

"Good morning, Chikorita. It looks like you were training really hard." The grass type closed her eyes and nodded happily in affirmation.

While Ethan was talking with his Chikorita, Peter made his way over to Totodile, who was currently sitting next to Charmander and watching Machop and Scizor spar. The curly haired teen popped a squat next to his blue croc, patting him on the head as he did so.

"Morning, Totodile. It looks like you did really well in your fight with Charmander." Totodile's smile, which had begun to form as Peter spoke, vanished at the last part, a flush of embarrassment taking its place. Charmander looked over and noticed this, patting the croc on the back.

"Charmander mander char." Peter nodded his agreement.

"See, Totodile? You don't have to be embarrassed about losing. It's just a part of getting stronger. If you never lose, how will you learn?" Totodile didn't seem much comforted by this, gesturing to Charmander as he replied.

"Dile dile dile." Peter didn't know quite what to say to that, scratching the back of his leg to buy himself some time.

"Well, yeah, Charmander hasn't lost a match yet. But, um…" Peter was saved from his bumbling attempt at a pep talk by the timely arrival of Stephen.

"But that doesn't mean he won't lose, just like it doesn't mean that you won't win. You just have to keep working your tail off, and before you know it you'll be stronger than you ever thought you could. The only way you'll ever truly lose is if you give up." Totodile brightened at this, looking up at Stephen and smiling.

"Dile!" The blonde teen smiled down at the blue croc, happy his pep talk ad had its desired effect. As Stephen opened his mouth to respond, a sharp cry rang out through the clearing.

"Pidgeo!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and whirled around to find the source of the noise. Situated in a tree was a large bird. It had mainly brown feathers on its body, but the plumage on its tail and head were a vibrant reddish color. Stephen pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the new arrival.

"Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokemon. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its large territory. If its living space is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws." Putting the Pokedex away, the blonde trainer turned to his two friends.

"If my gut feeling is right, we must be trespassing on Pidgeotto's territory." Peter nodded his agreement.

"I think you're right, Stephen. So what's our next move?" It wasn't Stephen, but Ethan, who answered the curly haired teen,

"Well, I think I'm going to try and catch it." Stephen briefly turned his gaze away from the glaring bird, giving Ethan a skeptical look.

"I don't know, man. That's a pretty big type disadvantage there." Ethan looked down at his Chikorita, who simply nodded her head. Smiling, Ethan looked back at Stephen.

"I believe it was somebody I know who said something about doing it if my Pokemon believed it could. Plus, you and Peter each have two Pokemon, so it's time I join the club." Stephen couldn't help but smile at the olive skinned trainer, moving out of the way as he replied.

"Good luck, Ethan. I'm sure you'll be able to catch it." Peter nodded his agreement, and then the two teens and their Pokemon vacated the clearing, giving Chikorita room to battle.

"Alright, Chikorita, let's start things off with Razor Leaf!" Chikorita nodded and spun the leaf on top of her head, shooting several sharp leaves towards the stationary Pidgeotto. The bird Pokemon took off in the nick of time, the leaves cutting through the branch it had just vacated. Letting out a call of challenge, Pidgeotto flew into the sky and looped around, coming down hard towards Chikorita.

"Quick, Chikorita, dodge it!" Chikorita rolled out of the way as Pidgeotto swooped past, barely missing the grass type. "Nice dodge, Chikorita. Now hit it with Tackle." Chikorita nodded and rushed towards Pidgeotto, lowering her head and turning her shoulder in preparation. But just as the grass type was about to hit, Pidgeotto began flapping its wings frantically, which created a strong wind that blew Chikorita back across the clearing and into a tree. Chikorita fell to the ground and shakily rose to her knees, not looking like she would last much longer.

"This isn't good." Stephen commented from the sidelines. "That Gust is a flying type move, so it did some major damage. And I'm sure crashing into a tree didn't exactly cushion her fall." Charmander was having to restrain himself from not rushing out to help Chikorita, and instead tried cheering her on.

"Charchar Charmander!" Chikorita looked over at Charmander, smiling weakly at his exuberant cheering. Suddenly, Chikorita felt something stir inside her. Looking up at the sun, Chikorita began to feel a power flowing through her body. Letting the power take her over, Chikorita found herself enveloped in a white light. When the glow dimmed, Chikorita felt as if she had just woken up this morning, almost a hundred percent better than how she had felt just a few moments before. Ethan smiled and cheered when he realized what had happened.

"Chikorita learned how to use Synthesis! Way to go, girl!" Chikorita smiled and looked over at Charmander, winking playfully at him. Charmander blushed horribly, giving Chikorita a fumbled thumbs up. Giggling to herself, the grass type turned back to the task at hand.

The Pidgeotto, sensing Chikorita's sudden revitalization, rushed at her again. But this time, Ethan had a plan.

"Chikorita, dodge it and use Razor Leaf at close range." Chikorita did as she was told, waiting as the brown bird closed. When Pidgeotto was right on top of her, she rolled out of the way and struck it square in the side with Razor Leaf. The bird Pokemon faltered at this, grunting in pain as it attempted to gain altitude. Sensing its plight, Ethan called out another command to Chikorita.

"Okay, Chikorita, finish it off with Tackle!" Chikorita rushed at the slowed bird, slamming into its back with enough force to send it flying into a nearby tree. As Pidgeotto slowly slid to the ground, Ethan pulled out a poke ball and threw it at the downed bird.

"Alright, poke ball, do your thing!" The ball struck Pidgeotto in the back, and then popped open and sucked it in. After wobbling back and forth for a few seconds, the red light finally dimmed, and Pidgeotto was Ethan's. Smiling, the olive skinned trainer ran up to the poke ball and picked it up, waving it over his head ecstatically.

"Aw yeah, baby! We did it!" The group came back into the clearing and crowded around Ethan, all offering their own congratulations. Everybody was so wrapped up in the trainer that they didn't notice Chikorita peck Charmander lightly on the cheek as a way of thanking him for cheering her on. Nor did they notice the fire lizard collapse in response. For the three teens, it was enough to know that they had all caught their first Pokemon.

…..

**There it was. I was both happy and disappointed with this. Oh well.**

**What did my readers think? The button for reviewing is down there if you have and opinion.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed, and see you next time!**


	8. Mayhem at the Museum

**Chapter 8 and everything's going great.**

**There's a good bit of action in this chapter, for all of you battle fans out there.**

**Anyways, I don't own Pokemon, and enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Mayhem at the Museum

The trio and there Pokemon had continued on their journey soon after Ethan caught Pidgeotto, stopping only to have a quick breakfast. It was about midday when the group emerged from the forest, blinking their eyes frantically to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. When they finally became accustomed to the light, they all let out a little cheer. Laid out before them was Pewter City, all of its buildings and streets a welcome change to the wilderness they had just left.

"Sure is nice to see civilization again." Peter said, breathing in the air deeply. Ethan silently agreed with Pete, but Stephen shook his head emphatically.

"It's ok every once in a while, but I prefer being outside in the great outdoors. The city is just pollution, overpopulation, and day-to-day living. The outdoors, on the other hand, has no real time to it; it just kind of blends together. Not to mention that the air is crisp and clear and you can feel totally at peace." As Peter opened his mouth to further argue the point, Ethan cut him off.

"As much as I love hearing you two bicker like an old married, what do you say we get to the Pokemon center, and then hit the Gym?" Peter and Stephen agreed to disagree, and then the trio made their way into the city.

…..

Five more minutes saw the trio and their Pokemon arriving at the Pokemon Center. After leaving their Pokemon with Nurse Joy and Chansey, who had been happy to see Peter, the Nurse Joy in Viridian having said glowing things about the brown haired trainer, Stephen rushed off to use the bathroom, saying he would meet Ethan and Peter in the cafeteria. The two teens made their way to the specified location, grabbed something light to snack on, and sat down in a booth that Stephen would notice when he walked in. After eating silently for a few moments, Ethan said:

"So, what do you think about him?" Peter looked up from his meal, a quizzical look on his face.

"About who, Ethan?" Peter asked, truly not understanding. The olive skinned trainer swallowed the last of his food before replying.

"You know, about Stephen. What do you think about him?" Peter shrugged and finished off his meal as well as he considered his answer.

"I don't really know, since I just met him yesterday. He seems like a really kind-hearted person, though. Why do you ask?" Ethan looked down at his hands for a short while before answering.

"I don't really know. I mean, you're right; he's a really good person, as far as I can tell. He seems like he's willing to jump in and help a complete stranger if they need help. And yet…" Ethan broke off at this, gazing out the window aimlessly.

"And yet…?" Peter offered helpfully.

"And yet when he battles, it's like he becomes a completely different person. Like when he beat Casey's Poliwhirl with his Charmander, or any of those things he did in the grove. It's kind of scary and inspiring all at once." Peter nodded his agreement when Ethan was finished.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Where in the world did he come up filling those leaves with powders from the Butterfree, or using those Caterpie as a surprise net?" Ethan shrugged and looked at the back of his hand as he answered.

"I don't know, but I wish I did. The thing is, I think I know why Casey liked me as a trainer." When Peter just stared blankly at him, Ethan continued. "I reminded him of himself. If you remember the battle, he used basically no strategy at all. He just sent out the best type match up he had and thought it was enough. It wasn't until just about now that I realized I would have done the same thing as Casey at that point." Peter waved this off.

"Anybody would have, Ethan. Who'd have thought that a Charmander would beat a Poliwhirl?"

"That's just my point! How did he do it? I've known Stephen for one day, _one_ _day_, and he's already changed how I see Pokemon battles. That battle against Pidgeotto I had this morning? I wouldn't have believed I could have won that before I met Stephen. But after realizing that strategy and tactics are just as important as type advantages and raw power, I felt like I had a chance." The pair at silently digesting this revelation until they heard the doors to the cafeteria slide open.

"Hey guys!" The two teen turned to see Stephen walk into the cafeteria, followed by all of the group's Pokemon minus Pidgeotto. The blonde teen made his way over to his friends and handed Ethan Pidgeotto's poke ball.

"Chansey found me as I left the bathroom and told me that our Pokemon were ready, so I though I'd bring them along." Ethan smiled and placed his newest Pokemon's poke ball on his belt, turning to Peter as he spoke.

"So, you guys ready to go win our first Gym Badge?" The trio let out a small cheer, and then made their way out of the Pokemon Center and towards the Gym.

…..

Fifteen minutes later the group arrived at the Gym. It wasn't hard to spot it, as it was one of the more impressive buildings in the city, made to look like a giant rock. That and the words Pewter City Gym were written on it..

"Well, this is it guys. Are you ready?" asked Stephen. Peter and Ethan nodded, and then the trio began to make their way to the front door. When they were about five yards away, the entrance slid open to allow the last person the three teens expected to see to exit.

"Casey, what are you doing here?" Sure enough, the black haired trainer stood in the doorway, a slight smirk spreading across his features as he looked at Stephen. Ethan cast a quick glance over at the blonde trainer as he asked the question, not wanting there to be another fight right before the gym battle. Stephen's shoulders where clenched slightly, and both Machop and Charmander looked ready to maul the older boy, but they were under control. For now.

"If you have to know, blondey, I was just getting my first gym badge." As he spoke, Casey pulled open one side of his jacket to reveal a small, gray octagon: the Boulderbadge. All those present were taken aback by this, but Stephen's mouth literally hung open.

"_You_ beat the gym leader?" Casey's smirk widened as he closed his jacket and pulled out a poke ball.

"Damn right I did, blondey. And I really have you to thank. If I hadn't used my Poliwhirl against you, I wouldn't have seen how weak it was. So the first thing I did after Poliwhirl lost-" Casey threw the ball into the air at this point, releasing the Pokemon inside. What came out wasn't Poliwhirl, though it looked a lot like it. Its hands now had fingers, and its body was now incredibly muscular. Intrigued, Stephen pulled out his Pokedex.

"Poliwrath, the Tadpole Pokemon. An adept swimmer, it knows the front crawl, butterfly, and more. It is faster than the best human swimmers." Putting away the device, Stephen asked:

"So you evolved your Poliwhirl into Poliwrath?" Casey nodded and recalled the Pokemon, placing the ball back on his belt as he replied.

"Very astute, blondey. I happened to have a Water Stone, so I figured I might as well utilize it." Stephen gestured to the poke ball as he replied.

"What about Poliwrath? Did he want to evolve?" Casey shrugged his shoulders.

"What does it matter what he wanted? I'm the master, I know what's best. His feelings were irrelevant." If not for the swift response of the rest of the group, Casey would have been dead where he stood. Peter and Ethan each grabbed one of Stephen's arms as he attempted to swing at the black haired trainer, Scizor gripped Machop's good arm firmly, and Chikorita stood in front of Charmander while Totodile held him by the tail. Laughing to himself, Casey walked past the group and down the road, disappearing from sight around a building.

After making sure he was really gone, those individuals who were restraining Stephen and his Pokemon let them go. Stephen and his two Pokemon glared at where Casey had disappeared around the corner, but made no attempt to follow him. Taking a deep breath, Stephen collected himself and stepped to the door.

"Let's do this."

…..

The inside of the gym was basically an empty warehouse. There was a catwalk aligning the wall of the building, and a sprinkler system installed on the ceiling. On the opposite side of the gym from the entrance sat a slightly elevated platform, on which a lone figure was currently sitting cross-legged. He had very tan skin and dark brown hair. He was definitely older than any of the boys, even older than Casey, but Stephen wouldn't call him an adult. When the brown haired person looked up and saw them entering, he stood up and called out across the room.

"Greetings. My name is Brock, and I am the leader of this gym. Am I correct in assuming that you three are here to battle for the Boulderbadge?"

"You got that right, Brock!" Stephen called out, which made the tan gym leader smile.

"Good. I like enthusiasm in my opponents. There's just one problem. If, by chance, the first challenger happens to beat me, the other two would have to wait for my Pokemon to rest, and the same thing for the next battle. Needless to say, it would take quite awhile." The three companions turned and looked at each other at this, the idea having never occurred to any of them.

"What do you guys think?" asked Peter. Ethan shrugged, but Stephen had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I think that Peter should battle first, Ethan second, and I'll go last." The other two boys looked at the blonde trainer, both of their faces showing their surprise quite plainly.

"Are you sure, Stephen? You've been waiting for this for awhile." Stephen nodded his head.

"I'm sure. I've already had some battles, and Ethan just had the last one against Pidgeotto. I think Peter should get the first crack at the gym leader." Peter and Ethan smiled at Stephen; both of them pleased with yet another act of selflessness from Stephen. Peter turned and looked at Brock, his face determined.

"Ok, Brock, we've worked it out. I'm going to be your first opponent." The tan gym leader smiled.

"Very well." Brock snapped his fingers, which was followed by a dull thunk. Suddenly, the floor began to change as two halves of a rocky battlefield began to close in towards the center. When the battle zone had locked together, Brock leapt off his platform and stood in his designated box opposite of Peter's.

"The rules are simple. These will be one on one battle with each of us having two Pokemon. First trainer to have neither Pokemon able to battle loses. Understood?" Peter nodded, and then Brock pulled out a poke ball. "Then let's do it." But just as Brock was about enlarge his poke ball, the door to the gym burst open.

"Brock, come quick! There's a robbery taking place at the Museum!" In the doorway stood a young woman wearing a police uniform with a serious expression on her face. She had sky blue hair, and a body that filled out her outfit nicely, a fact that the three teens struggled to ignore. However, Stephen quickly shook off his adolescent fantasies when the woman's words hit him.

"A robbery at the museum!" The blonde teen cast a quick glance at Brock. "I'll be back, guys." Without another word, Stephen and his Pokemon rushed out the door of the gym, heading for the Museum that was a short five minute walk to the north. The police woman gestured to where the blonde trainer had just been.

"Is that normal for him?" Ethan and Peter shrugged.

"As far as we can tell it is." Jenny turned her gaze back to Brock.

"Anyways, we may need your help on this one, Brock. The perpetrators are none other than Team Rocket." Peter and Ethan gasped at the news, while Brock's face simply hardened. Team Rocket was the largest crime syndicate in the Kanto region. They were involved in all sorts of things, most of the time utilizing Pokemon to commit whatever dastardly crime they had planned. Whatever they were stealing from the museum, it was bad news for everybody. And Stephen was currently running right into it.

"We've got to go help Stephen, Ethan. He could really get hurt." Ethan nodded, and then the pair rushed off after their blonde friend, their Pokemon in tow. The blue haired woman walked over to Brock, whose expression, which had been so serious before, was now very thoughtful.

"What are you thinking, Brock? We need to go make sure those kids don't get hurt!" Brock motioned for the woman to come closer.

"I've got an idea I'd like to run by you, Officer Jenny." After Brock laid out his plan, Jenny grudgingly nodded her head in agreement.

"Alright, Brock, we'll give it a chance. But we're going to be close so that the moment something goes wrong we'll be able to step in. Agreed?" Brock smiled and nodded his head.

"That's all I'm asking for, Jenny."

…..

Stephen arrived at the museum two minutes after he left the gym, he and his Pokemon panting after their madcap sprint. Once he had caught his breath, the blonde teen assessed the situation. Overall the museum looked quite normal, save for the people running out the front door screaming and the giant hole in the side of the building that three men were currently climbing out of. Each man wore a black outfit with a red "R" emblazoned on the chest. The last one to come out of the hole was carrying a large sack, so it wasn't hard to determine that these three were the burglars. Stephen cleared his throat and stepped in front of them as they attempted to leave.

"Hold it right there. There's no way I'm letting you three make off with museum property." The three men stared at Stephen, then his Charmander and Machop, and then let out a chorus of laughter.

"Oh, look at that, boys." said the man closest to Stephen. "This fine young lad's going to put three members of Team Rocket in jail." The other two laughed louder at this.

"What do you think this is, kid? This ain't some Saturday morning cartoon where the good guys always win. Now step aside or you'll be in a world of hurt." Stephen shook his head emphatically.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I know this isn't a cartoon, because if it was I'd bee cowering in a corner, waiting for some hero to come save the day. But that's not going to happen." The three men stopped laughing at this, and one of them let out a low growl.

"Alright, kid. You want to play rough? I'll play rough. Go, Raticate!" The man pulled out a poke ball and tossed it into the air, releasing the Pokemon inside of it. What came out was a large, tawny colored rat. Stephen whipped out his Pokedex and pointed it at the new arrival.

"Raticate, the Mouse Pokemon. Raticate's sturdy fangs grow steadily. To keep them ground down, it gnaws on rocks and logs. It may even chew on the walls of houses." Putting away the Pokedex, Stephen turned to Machop.

"You feel like battling, Machop?" The gray Pokemon nodded his head, cracking its knuckles in anticipation. The man smirked as he called out an order.

"Alright, Raticate, use Quick Attack!" The large rat called out an affirmation, and then rushed at Machop with blinding speed.

"Quick, Machop, dodge it!" called Stephen. But the order was pointless. The speed of the Raticate was too great, allowing it to smash into Machop just as the fighting type began to move out of the way. Machop flew back several feet, sliding to a stop after a few seconds.

"You ok, Machop?" The gray Pokemon picked himself off the ground and nodded, smashing his fists together in aggravation. Stephen smiled grimly and turned back to the Raticate.

"Machop, hit it with Karate Chop!"

"Chop!" The fighting type rushed at Raticate, bringing its arm back for a devastating blow. The man smirked again.

"Raticate, dodge it and use Tackle!" The tawny rat reacted immediately, rolling out of the way of Machop's blow and then launching itself at him. The gray Pokemon took the attack full in the side and was again sent flying several feet. Stephen looked over at the man, who was laughing to himself.

"Did you really think you could beat a member of Team Rocket, kid? This is the big leagues, and you're not even Semi-Pro material." Stephen growled, racking his brain for a plan.

_This is really bad. That Raticate's way too fast; Machop can't even land a blow. I've got to find a way to counteract it._ As Stephen was thinking, the Team Rocket member called out another order to his Raticate.

"Let's end this, Raticate. Use Hyper Fang!" Stephen almost choked on his own spit.

_Hyper Fang! If that lands, this battle is as good as done. There's got to be-wait! That's it!_ Stephen smiled slightly as he called out to Machop.

"Machop, use your injured arm!" The gray Pokemon looked back at his trainer, a confused expression on his face. He then looked down at this arm, which was covered in the medical tape. Suddenly, Machop understood, and looked up at the Raticate that was bearing down on him. As the tawny rat opened its mouth to bite down on the fighting type, Machop maneuvered his arm so that all the Raticate bit into was the tape on his arm. Machop smiled as he watched Raticate's eyes widen as it attempted to pull itself free of the tape, only to discover it was a futile effort.

Stephen smiled as he saw his plan work out. "Alright, Machop, let him have it!" Smiling, Machop raised his free hand, and then brought it crashing down in-between Raticate's eyes, knocking it cold. The Team Rocket member stared dumbly as he unconsciously recalled his Raticate. Smiling, Stephen held out his hand.

"I'll take whatever's in the bag." The other two members quickly shook off their shock, pulling out poke balls of their own.

"No going to happen, kid! Go, Ekans"

"Let's see how you like my Koffing!" The pair threw their poke balls, releasing a purple snake with yellow stripes and a large, purple ball with a symbol on its chest. Stephen opened his mouth to speak when a familiar voice called out.

"Hang on, Stephen!" The blonde teen turned around to see Peter and Ethan running towards him, their Pokemon right behind them. Stephen smiled as his friends came to a stop next to him.

"Nice of you guys to join me." Ethan smirked.

"Well, we couldn't let you have all the glory, now could we?" The olive skinned trainer turned back to the Rockets, pulling out a poke ball as he did so. "Peter, I think you and I can handle these jokers." Peter smiled as he replied.

"I think you're right, Ethan. Scizor, are you ready?" The red female nodded and stepped forward, glaring at the Rockets' Pokemon as she did. Ethan then threw his poke ball into the air.

"Alright, Pidgeotto, let's see what you can do!" Ethan's newly caught Pidgeotto came out of the ball and flew over to Scizor, a determined look on his face. The two Rockets snarled as they called out orders.

"Ekans, use Bite on Pidgeotto!"

"Koffing, cover Ekans with Smokescreen!" The Pokemon reacted immediately to their masters orders. Koffing began shooting dense smoke from the holes in its body while Ekans began to quickly slither towards Pidgeotto by using the smoke as cover.

"Alright then, Pidgeotto, blow that Smokescreen away with Gust!"

"Scizor, take out Ekans with Metal Claw!" Pidgeotto began flapping its wings rapidly, quickly dispersing the smoke. Suddenly, Ekans leapt out of the smoke, flying in a direct line towards Pidgeotto. However, its travel path changed dramatically when the side of Ekans' head was introduced to Scizor's Metal Claw. The snake went flying, and landed several yards away, where it did not rise. Ekans' owner growled as he recalled his Pokemon.

Charmander, who was watching the battle, looked down at his claw at this. He had been watching Scizor use Metal Claw when his hand had started to tingle. However, his attention was pulled away from this phenomenon by the sound of one of the Rockets' voices.

"Don't worry, I'll get them." said the man's battle partner. "Koffing, use Sludge on that Pidgeotto!" The man's Koffing opened its mouth and shot a highly toxic burst of sludge at Ethan's Pidgeotto. The attack would have been devastating if Peter hadn't been prepared.

"Scizor, use Iron Defense and take the hit for Pidgeotto!" Scizor nodded and leapt in front of the ball of muck. The red female crossed her arms and shut her eyes as she leapt, a slight glow encasing her body. As the Sludge hit her, the glow disappeared, but Scizor remained perfectly unharmed. Ethan smiled over at Peter.

"Thanks, Peter! Alright, Pidgeotto, let's rap this up with Wing Attack!" Pidgeotto nodded and sped towards Koffing, his wings glowing bright white as he did so. The three Rockets could only watch as Koffing took the attack head on and fell to the ground unconscious. The owner dumbly recalled the toxic Pokemon, and then he and his comrades stared blankly at the three teens. But as Stephen opened his mouth to once again demand the bag, the owner of the Raticate snapped out of his trance. Growling, he pulled out another poke ball.

"We don't have time for this. Weezing, cover us with Smokescreen!" The Pokemon that came out of the ball was what appeared to be three Koffings fused together. It quickly obeyed its master's order, unleashing a wall of smoke that was much thicker than Koffing's. The three teens soon found themselves coughing in an attempt to get the smoke out of their lungs. The Rocket recalled his Wheezing, and then the three of them took off while the boys were incapacitated.

"Pidgeotto…ack…use Gust…ack!" Ethan managed to yell between coughs. Pidgeotto responded immediately, blowing away the smoke as fast as it could. When the smoke finally cleared, the boys' fears that the three crooks had gotten away vanished. Standing between them and freedom was Officer Jenny and Brock, each with a Pokemon by their side. Next to Jenny was what Stephen could easily identify as a Growlithe. The Pokemon next to Brock was what appeared to be a floating rock. Stephen quickly whipped out his Pokedex.

"Geodude, the Rock Pokemon. It is impossible to distinguish from rocks. It slams against others in contests of hardness." Stephen put away the device, smiling to himself as Officer Jenny stepped forward.

"Hand over the bag and put your hands where I can see them. You three are under arrest for robbing the Pewter City Museum!" The three Rockets may have been self confident enough to face a group of teenagers, but they had no desire to tangle with an officer of the law and a gym leader. In a few short minutes they were handcuffed and on their way to the station.

…..

"I can't thank you enough for saving this!" After the three Rockets had been sent off, Officer Jenny, Brock, the three teens, and their Pokemon made their way into the Museum. They were currently talking with the owner of the Museum, who had just received the bag from Officer Jenny.

"It was no problem, sir. I was just doing my job. Though I admit, those three boys were a big help." The Museum Owner turned to the Stephen, Peter, and Ethan, a kind smile spreading across his face.

"I am in your debt, boys. How can I ever repay you?" Stephen smiled at the man, shaking his head slightly.

"You don't have to, sir. It was the right thing to do." Ethan nodded in agreement while Peter said:

"Still, it would be nice to know what we just fought to save." The owner smiled and placed the bag on his desk, motioning everybody closer.

"Of course, of course!" The man carefully reached into the bag and pulled out what appeared to be an old rock with a helix shape engraved in it.

"Is that…a fossil?" asked Brock. The owner nodded sagely.

"It is indeed, Brock. This is a fossil of the ancient and extinct Pokemon, Omanyte." All those gathered let out a chorus of "oohs" at this. Then, Officer Jenny straightened up and nodded at the Museum owner.

"Well, sir, I've got to get back to patrolling the streets. Crime doesn't rest and all of that." Turning to the three teens, Jenny put on a friendly smile. "Thanks again for your help boys. But try not to rush off blindly into trouble. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." The blue haired policewoman had winked at Stephen as she said this, making the blonde boy blush slightly.

"Um, yeah, y-you got it, ma'am." Jenny smiled.

"Call me Jenny." Turning to Brock, the woman held out her hand for him to shake. The gym leader accepted the gesture, smiling as he spoke.

"Didn't I tell you it would work out?" Jenny smiled grudgingly at him walking out the door as she did.

"Yes, yes you did." After saying their own goodbyes to the Museum owner, Brock, the teens, and their Pokemon made their way out of the building. Once they were outside, Brock turned to the boys.

"Excellent job, you three. You each handled your Pokemon exceptionally well in your battles. It is because of this that I am honored to award you with these." At this, Brock opened his hand to reveal three Boulderbadges, making the three boys gasp.

"But…we didn't beat you." Brock shook his head at Ethan.

"A Gym Badge doesn't symbolize victory, Ethan, though that is how it is often attained. A Gym Badge symbolizes that the gym leader who awarded it believes you are worthy as a trainer to receive it. And from what I saw today, I can easily say that all three of you are worthy." Peter and Ethan smiled at this, both of them happily accepting their first Gym Badge. Stephen, on the other hand, shook his head when Brock offered him the badge.

"I can't accept that, Brock." The gym leader looked at Stephen, confused.

"Why not, Stephen?"

"Because I didn't do anything to deserve it. Like I told the owner of the museum, I don't expect to be rewarded for my actions. I just acted in the way I thought was right. I don't want that badge for that." Brock smiled at the blonde teen, placing the badge back in his pocket.

"Does this mean what I think it means, Stephen?" The teen nodded, a determined smile spreading across his face.

"You bet it does. You didn't think you were going to get out of a battle with me that easily, did you?" Brock shook his head.

"You know, a part of me was hoping you'd still want to battle. Let's do it."

…..

**Cliffhanger!**

**Well, how did that chapter work for you guys? I personally though it turned out well.**

**If you have anything to say, or if you see any errors, please utilize the review button. It's free.**

**The next chapter should be a really sweet Gym Battle, seeing as how I have it planned out already.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and see you next time!**


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